- WSL

A year ago, Coco Ho tore her MCL attempting an air reverse at the Waco wave pool in July of 2019. This put her out of the jersey for two months, forcing her to miss the Super Girl Pro , Vans US Open of Surfing, and the Corona Open J-Bay.

At the time she was sitting at rank No. 14 on the Jeep Leaderboard with hopes of keeping her spot on the 2020 Championship Tour. This was a result she needed after slipping down from rank No. 10 after the Oi Rio Pro.

After rehabbing her knee extensively over the past year through Physiotherapy, gym workouts, and functional medicine, she's returned to Waco for redemption. And like her bro Mason, it looks like she's got this one on lock.

It took 7 weeks to heal from a grade 1 tear of her MCL, and another month to surf comfortably again. Ho returned to the jersey in September to chase a result at the Freshwater Pro - ironically at another wave pool.

"The moral of the end of my 2019 was listening to the body kind of seeking help maybe sooner," Ho reflected in her episode of Wellness Weekly. "It definitely was a journey and it was meant to happen."

She took another 9th place finish at the Surf Ranch, a result that plagued her eight of the nine stops in 2019. Ho was also dealing with an ongoing thyroid problem that developed in mid-August, which impacted her performance during the back-half of the season.

Coco Ho Talks About Her Journey Through Injury Rehab
10:21
Coco candidly opens up about what she learned from her first injury last year at the Waco wave pool.

Ho then set her sights on bettering her standing in Europe and Hawaii, but never built the momentum she needed to meet requalification.

The light at the end of the tunnel, though, is that her rehab has helped her overcome the setbacks of her knee and thyroid. Now she's looking fit and explosive aboard those Mayhems.

And if this is any indication of how she'll be surfing next year, we can expect a short road back onto the Championship Tour.

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