Californian surfer Kolohe Andino makes history at Huntington
History was made on Sunday, March 27, when the young California surfer, Kolohe Andino, conquered both the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Vans Pier Classic and the ASP 4-Star Vans Pro Junior at Huntington Beach in California, USA. The absolutely
spectacular performance by the 17-year-old made him the first person to win both the main event and the pro junior event at a contest.
Sunday turned out to be something beyond everyone’s wildest imagination as Andino took out the Vans Pro Junior and followed it up with a win at the Vans Pier Classic. In the latter event, he was up against the ASP World Tour surfers Adriano de Souza from
Brazil, Taylor Knox from California and Damien Hobgood from Florida. The intimidating competition failed to bring the world’s most deadly up-and-coming surfer down.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Andino said. “I believed in myself, but once I actually made all of the heats, I can’t believe it. All seven surfers that I surfed against in the Finals were amazing. I never even had time to get nervous because it feels like one
big heat now.”
The historic day kicked off the with Vans Pro Junior heats. Current leader on the ASP 4-Star Vans Pro Junior series, Andino managed to overtake the early heat leader, Conner Coffin from California, after performing extremely well in two consecutive heats.
His mid-heat rampage during the final against Coffin allowed him to snatch the lead from Coffin after earning a score of 6.93, and following it up with an 8.30 to further his lead on the ASP North American Pro Junior Series Rankings and ending up with the
victory. Andiono’s final score was 15.23 against Coffin’s 14.07.
“I’m stoked,” Andino said. “I was just stoked to be a part of these two finals. Conner (Coffin) had me in the beginning. I just got a little right and did an air. The guys were ripping.”
After getting done with the Pro Junior final, the exciting young-gun made his way straight to the main event to take on the experienced, intimidating ASP veterans. Completely pumped up and holding on to his nerves, he made an impact in the final with a massive
slob 360.
De Souza, who had exhibited top-form throughout the course of Vans Pier Classic, joined by Knox and Hobgood were the obstacle that Aldino had to overcome in order to write history. Knox and Hobgood needed pretty good scores to pose a threat at Aldino’s chances
to clinch the win, and both were completely capable of achieving just that. Fortunately for Aldino, it did not turn out to be their day.
The biggest threat to Aldino’s victory, De Sourza had a wonderful day prior to the final, winning heats to improve his scores. He secured the event-high score of 9.80 out of 10 after pulling off several spectacular front-side turns on a right-hander and
finishing off with an air-reverse. The last-minute effort remained futile as he failed to find the scores to surpass Aldino. The 17-year-old Californian won the event with 14.60 against his 14.50.
Andino was expected to make a massive impact in surfing for long time. However, nobody had expected him to do it in such a fashion. The young Californian has already announced himself in the most intimidating manner. Now familiar with what he is capable
of, we could very well be looking him dominating the waves in the upcoming events at Huntington this summer.
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