Joe Surf: Conlogue seeks to break trend

Courtney Conlogue is courting history.

Conlogue, who was born in and still lives in Santa Ana, grew up surfing local beach breaks and is trying to become the first Orange County surfer in nearly 50 years to win a women’s world surfing title.

The last Orange County woman to win a world title was Dana Point’s Joyce Hoffman, who won International Surfing Association (ISF) world titles in 1965 and ’66.

In fact, there hasn’t been a U.S. mainlander to win a women’s world title since Lisa Andersen did it in 1997. Since then, it’s been nothing but Australians, except for the two titles by Hawaii’s Carissa Moore and one by Peruvian Sofia Mulanovich.

Conlogue, though, is making a run at breaking the trend. With her third-place finish at the U.S. Open last month, she moved into the rankings lead, passing Moore by a slim 400 points.

With six of the 10 World Championship Tour contests complete, Conlogue had about a month to gather her thoughts before the next contest. But it’s tricky to balance the pride of leading the world while still knowing there is work to do.

“You have thoughts that cross your mind of you being the ratings leader, especially when you haven’t been there before,” Conlogue said last week as she prepared for the Swatch Women’s Pro at Lower Trestles. “But I think every athlete learns to focus on that one moment. It’s about being in the now and not focusing on tomorrow. There’s a lot to be said for that and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Conlogue’s rankings lead lasted until last week, when she was eliminated in the quarterfinal round at the Swatch Women’s Pro, taking fifth place, while Moore advanced to the semifinal round. That guaranteed Moore at least third place, and the points differential between third and fifth would push Moore past Conlogue and into the lead.

Conlogue lost a tight quarterfinal heat against Lakey Peterson, the two-wave scores favoring Peterson 16.76 to 15.26. It wasn’t the way Conlogue would have liked things to go, especially since she’s been surfing Lowers since she was a grom.

“I’ve surfed this wave since I was 6 with my dad and my brother,” said Conlogue, who burst onto the international surfing stage in 2009 when she won the U.S. Open at age 16. “Every time I go out here I’m having fun. It’s such a great canvas to perform in and entertain on. I have surfed this wave more than I’ve surfed Huntington.”

Conlogue has lost the leader’s jersey for the moment, but there are still three contests remaining. The next one is the Cascais Women’s Pro in Cascais, Portugal beginning Sept. 22.

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BRAZILIAN BOOM

Many of the Brazilian pros have made their permanent home in San Clemente, which means when they are not competing around the world, they are surfing Trestles.

With the Hurley Pro taking place at Lower Trestles this week and last, it seems logical to think the Brazilians have a home-break advantage. Australian Mick Fanning, though, wasn’t buying it.

“Look, you can think that but the best guy with the best run out here is Kelly [Slater] and he’s from Florida,” said Fanning, who began the Hurley Pro ranked No. 2 in the world and trailing No. 1 Adriano De Souza of Brazil. “It doesn’t really matter where you come from, it’s a matter of getting to know the wave and which ones are the good ones and making sure you pick those in your heats. You don’t have to surf against everyone, you only have to surf against the guys in your heat at that time.”

Fanning said that before the contest, and then reality hit. Four of the final eight surfers to reach the quarterfinals were Brazilians.

Fanning reached the quarterfinals as well, but found himself matched up against fellow Aussie Adrian Buchan.

Surfing was called off Monday and Tuesday because of poor conditions.

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HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY CONTEST

The annual Huntington Beach City Contest will take place Saturday and Sunday at the south side of the HB Pier. The contest, open only to Huntington Beach residents, is limited to 175 surfers and has been booked for weeks.

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at [email protected].