Coco Ho claims her first World Tour victory at the Rip Curl Pro Search.
October 29, 2009, 4:35 PM
By: Jake Howard
Scholtz/ASP/Getty
Coco Ho, finding her first World Tour victory at the 2009 Rip Curl Pro Search.
Bombing 8-foot pits, a world title race between best friends, a storm-ravaged contest. It's a tough act for the fledgling women's Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour to follow, but knowing 18-year-old Hawaiian surfer Coco Ho, she probably didn't take much notice. From growing up in Hawaii's first family of surf, cutting her teeth on the famed North Shore, the girl's spent her whole life among the fray, so why should one day in Portugal be any different?
Why? Because for the first time in her just-starting-to-sprout career, in her first season on tour, Ho has won a World Tour event.
"I'm trying not to think about too much," she admitted in her postfinal interview. "I love my trophy. When I started the year, I set a goal to make quarterfinals or better at every event in order finish top-five by the end of the year, and I'm doing my best to accomplish that."
She's accomplishing a lot more than that. With only one event remaining — on native Hawaiian soil — Ho would appear to be a lock for rookie of the year honors, and depending on where things fall in the end, could find herself rated even higher than she already is (No. 3).
Joli
World champ Steph Gilmore and Michael "Pops" Ho share a cold frosty beverage to celebrate. (Note: Steph really is that much taller.)
All told, Ho represents the tip of the spear when it comes to the youth movement in women's surfing. This win is but the first in a huge generational shift we'll see in years to come. Next year Coco will be joined on tour by Carissa Moore, and then there's upstart Malia Manuel waiting in the wings. And those are just a few of the girls from Oahu. Young Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons is on a role of her own, and she'll soon be joined from more like-minded young ladies from Down Under.
"This year, I was kind of questioning my ability a bit at the first event with these young girls like Coco and Sally [Fitzgibbons]," said 28-year-old Chelsea Hedges, who finished second at the Rip Curl Pro Search. "They are surfing so good, and it really pushes my surfing and makes me look at what I am doing. It felt really good to take out Steph [Gilmore]. She is the best out there in my opinion; her surfing still has that little edge. I still feel that, come the end of the year, she is going to be the one to beat."
Like the men, the ladies of the ASP are now headed to Hawaii for the final stop of the 2009 season. Given the amount of early-season swell already hitting the islands as well as the closeness of all the title races, we should be in for a good show come December.
Ho has style beyond her years, so no doubt the world's going to see a lot more of her.
RIP CURL WOMEN'S PRO SEARCH FINAL RESULTS:
1: Coco Ho (HAW) 15.83
2: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 9.37
RIP CURL WOMEN'S PRO SEARCH SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 11.17 def. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 5.10
SF 2: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.84 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 8.66
CURRENT ASP WOMEN'S WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After RC Pro Women's Search):
1. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS): 3,793 points
2. Silvana Lima (BRA): 3,636 points
3. Coco Ho (HAW): 2,923 points
4. Sofia Mulanovich (PER): 2,691 points
5. Melanie Bartels (HAW): 2,535 points
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Contributors
Jon Coen
Jon is from New Jersey and continues to reside there with his wife and dog—which means occasional empty barrels and the occasional session in the snow.The state isn't as dirty as people might think, but he'll let them keep believing that.
Jake Howard
Jake lives, writes, and surfs in San Clemente, California. He spent his formative gremlin years surfing points north of San Francisco, and for the last 10 years has been contently surviving behind the Orange Curtain.
Kimball Taylor
Author of Return by Water, as well as books on Jeffreys Bay and Pipeline, Kimball drives a red hot Camero, and back in the '70s, he used to party with your Dad.
Daniel Ikaika Ito
Daniel surfs like a hippie, but dresses like a homie. The Native Hawaiian originally hails from Hilo, but now resides in Honolulu. He enjoys twin-fins, new sneakers and being ESPN's "Cuz On The Scene" in the 50th State.
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About as majestic as a turkey vulture, when he's not shlepping his lens around the world or looking for road kill, Jason can be found at home in Dana Point tending to his growing brood.
