It's a case of being in the right place at the right time for Crosby Colapinto, with the nineteen-year-old Californian scoring a wildcard into the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup presented by Corona after traveling to Australia to support his brother.
"I was just planning on coming and being a support crew for my brother and being around the contest because I know the WSL is trying to start contest back up and get the QS up and running so I just thought it would be a good idea to be around, watching it and getting used to contest vibes again," Colapinto told the WSL.
Colapinto is coming off a statement-making season on the North Shore of Oahu. This winter he and Griffin threw down the gauntlet, catching some of the best waves at Pipe and Backdoor.
This comes after 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater did not board a recent charter flight from Los Angles to Sydney due to injury, and therefore will be unable to compete in the event. Officially, first replacement Mikey Wright takes Kelly's spot, and event sponsor Rip Curl has selected Colapinto as the final wildcard.
This will be his third-ever Championship Tour event, having previously competed in Portugal and the Surf Ranch.
Crosby was already in Australia when he got the news, having made the trip with Griff who is currently no.17 on the Championship Tour rankings. He's right now sitting out his two-week spell in hotel quarantine in Sydney - a chore all the more bearable knowing he's got a chance to compete against the world's best at a time when his surfing is in top form.
"I'm really excited because when I did the CTs for the Surf Ranch and Portugal I felt kinda young and immature with my surfing," he said.
But now, after a special season in Hawaii and a two-month stint in Indonesia, Colapinto's surfing has found a new level of maturity.
"The Hawaii season was a little confidence booster, and I was in indo for a while before that ... I feel like going away from home for that long has really polished my surfing," he said.
After A Breakout Winter In Hawaii, Crosby Colapinto Scores A CT Wildcard
Ben Collins
It's a case of being in the right place at the right time for Crosby Colapinto, with the nineteen-year-old Californian scoring a wildcard into the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup presented by Corona after traveling to Australia to support his brother.
"I was just planning on coming and being a support crew for my brother and being around the contest because I know the WSL is trying to start contest back up and get the QS up and running so I just thought it would be a good idea to be around, watching it and getting used to contest vibes again," Colapinto told the WSL.
Colapinto is coming off a statement-making season on the North Shore of Oahu. This winter he and Griffin threw down the gauntlet, catching some of the best waves at Pipe and Backdoor.
This comes after 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater did not board a recent charter flight from Los Angles to Sydney due to injury, and therefore will be unable to compete in the event. Officially, first replacement Mikey Wright takes Kelly's spot, and event sponsor Rip Curl has selected Colapinto as the final wildcard.
This will be his third-ever Championship Tour event, having previously competed in Portugal and the Surf Ranch.
Crosby was already in Australia when he got the news, having made the trip with Griff who is currently no.17 on the Championship Tour rankings. He's right now sitting out his two-week spell in hotel quarantine in Sydney - a chore all the more bearable knowing he's got a chance to compete against the world's best at a time when his surfing is in top form.
"I'm really excited because when I did the CTs for the Surf Ranch and Portugal I felt kinda young and immature with my surfing," he said.
But now, after a special season in Hawaii and a two-month stint in Indonesia, Colapinto's surfing has found a new level of maturity.
"The Hawaii season was a little confidence booster, and I was in indo for a while before that ... I feel like going away from home for that long has really polished my surfing," he said.
Crosby Colapinto
After an epic run of surf in California in January, the last few weeks have forced Andino and the Colapintos to make the most of the meager
Surfers have been proving themselves in the heavy surf of Puerto Escondido for decades, and now it's Crosby Colapinto's time to step up.
While surfers in California were enjoying the first proper south swell of the summer, some were scoring south of the border.
The Californian kid has put on an epic show on Day 3 of the Vissla Central Coast Pro QS3,000 as Avoca Beach turned on pumping surf.
The Sunset Open Men's QS 1,000 and Men's & Women's Pro Junior kicks off January 18 - 28
Rip Curl Newcastle Cup presented by Corona
Season 2, Episode 2
Joe Turpel and Richie Lovett report from the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup to reflect on all the latest action in competitive surfing.
Medina recently joined forced with surf coach Andy King after a career spent traveling with his stepfather for a decade.
Italo Ferreira and Carissa Moore have won the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup presented by Corona in commanding, spectacular fashion.
With a score of 9.70 Gabriel Medina's massive air earns him the highest single wave score in the men's event so far.
Growing up on the backstreets of Newcastle, Ryan Callinan shares why Merewether is such a world class wave.