| NSSA Record Breaker Kanoa Igarashi |
| Written by Janice Aragon | |
| Tuesday, 03 March 2009 | |
11-YEAR-OLD HUNTINGTON BEACH LOCAL ENTERS THE NSSA RECORD BOOKS CORY ARRAMBIDE PASSES THE TORCH TO KANOA. Kanoa Igarashi is now the king of the regular season wins. History was witnessed on January 11 at the Huntington Beach Pier when he smashed Cory Arrambide’s record of 21 (set in the 2001-02 season) by winning the Open Boys final and claiming his 22nd victory. And just because Kanoa has accomplished this monumental feat, don’t even think he will be taking his foot off the gas pedal. With approximately one-third of the regular season remaining, Kanoa still has multiple events to compete in and is on track to compile a wins record that could be virtually impossible to surpass. He has already added number 23 to the season tally when he won the Menehuene division at the Ventura Gold Coast event on January 31 and the odds appear insurmountable that his win count will continue to climb. At the age of 3-years-old, Kanoa got his first surfboard. Under the encouragement of both his dad Tom and mom Misa, he has been hitting the waves ever since. His natural talent and progress caught the eye of Scott Waring, then manager of Huntington Surf and Sport and at 7-years-old, Kanoa landed his first sponsor. He now has a full roster of sponsors whose logos cover his 4’10” surfboard from nose to tail. Besides adding more wins to his record plus an obvious shoe-in for Southwest Conference titles in the Open Boys and Explorer Menehuenes, Kanoa is now looking ahead to the Nationals where he will try and capture the first National title of his career. At the young age of 11, it is clear that this incredibly gifted kid is just scratching the surface of what he will be able to accomplish. I caught up with our youngest ever record-holder for a quick Q & A session after clinching his 23rd victory at Ventura Harbor.  KANOA RIPPING HIS 23RD WIN AT VENTURA HARBOR...AND STILL COUNTING! NAME: Kanoa Igarashi AGE: 11 SCHOOL: Dwyer Middle School GRADE: 6 HOMETOWN: Huntington Beach, Ca LOCAL BREAK: Huntington Pier Southside or Northside PALS YOU SURF WITH: I surf with a lot of friends, not just one person-pretty much everyone in Huntington! PROUDEST MOMENT: For sure the 22 victories SPONSORS: O’Neill, Vans, Spy, HSS, Nixon, Java Point, Ocean & Earth, Ratio Fin, Sugar Shack, Toyota of Huntington Beach, Bubble Gum. You opened up the 2008-09 season with a win at Open event #1 at Ninth Street in Huntington Beach. And after that you just got on a roll winning nine straight events including a super impressive victory in the Juniors division at the HB Open at the pier. When you first started the season did you ever think you would get off to a brilliant start like that and maybe go for the season wins record? First of all, I didn’t really think about the season wins record in the beginning of the season. I got on a winning roll. I’ve never had such a good start to the season before. Then you told me about the record and I thought, “yea, I’m going to go for it and try and break it.” Moving up from the Mini Groms this season, did you think it was going to be more difficult? No, last year, I surfed up in the Open Boys but I didn’t focus on it because I just wanted to concentrate on the Mini Groms. I just wanted to get first in that division. Now the Open Boys is my main division. Did you feel a rush of relief when you nailed your 22nd at the HB Pier Open to break the record? Yes, I was just so stoked that I broke it at my home break. After I won that contest, I felt like I got all the pressure off. Which contest this season do you think was the toughest to win? I think the event in Huntington when I won the Open Juniors division. That final was so stacked with Jared Thorne, Derek Peters and Colin Moran. I was out there at my home break again and the waves were so good. It glassed off right before the Juniors final. I was so stoked because that was my first ever Open Juniors win. That division is really hard. So tell us about yourself. Where do you go to school, what grade are you in, what are your grades? I go to Dwyer Middle School and I’m in the 6th grade. I get really good grades, mostly “A’s”. I’m in gate class. My favorite subject is math and my teacher is really nice. What is your daily surf routine? I surf two times a day. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I have surf class from 6:30-7:45am. The other days I am out in the water by 6:30-7:50am. And those extra minutes in the morning when I’m not in the surf class make a big difference. I can catch a few more waves so it’s worth it to get out there first thing in the morning and then have that extra five minutes before I have to come in. In the afternoons, I go out after school. I get out of school at 2:30 and my mom picks me up with all of my boards. I’m in the water by 2:45 and stay until dark. Now that you have accomplished this record-setting achievement for the season wins record, what is your next goal? I want to win as many more events as possible and make it tough for anyone else to break the record. It’s not easy to win all of these contests so I want to keep my record for a long time! What is your favorite spot to surf? I like 54th Street in Newport when it’s good because it barrels. I really like Huntington Pier, Northside and Southside. It gets crowded there but it’s still fun. I like Lowers too. So you are out in the water at least two times a day and practicing a lot. What are you working on to improve your surfing? I work on moves that I can’t do already and try to attempt moves that the pros do. I’m always trying to learn new things. Weird airs and tricks that the pros do that I’m not even close to pulling off. I also practice the basics and improve my maneuvers so I can keep getting better for contests. How old were you when you started surfing? I started when I was three years old. My dad started teaching me how to surf. My dad use to push me into waves at Huntington on the Northside of the Pier. Do you remember your first board? I was three years old and I got it in Hawaii. It was my birthday and I really wanted that board. I think it might have been just the colors because it was neon yellow on the rails. It was a Town and Country Surfboard. It was like a longboard. I think my dad took me out on that board in Hawaii but the waves were like a lake. It wasn’t even breaking. I just stood up on the board. Who was your first sponsor? When I was seven years old, I got on HSS (Huntington Surf and Sport). I was surfing one day on Northside and my dad was pushing me into the waves. Scott Waring who was the manager of HSS then, saw me and asked me if I wanted to get sponsored. I was super happy about that. Do you own the most O’Neill wetsuits out of anyone? I have a lot. I can pick out my colors. O’Neill treats me really well. Who is your favorite professional surfer and why? My favorite surfer is Taj Burrow and Mick Fanning because they surf really fast. Who is your favorite NSSA surfer? I think Colton Larson surfs really good. He’s from Huntington. I really like his power. Where were you born? Santa Monica, California Do you have a lot of relatives that live in Japan? I have a lot of relatives there. None of them surf but I want them too. How often do you go there? Every August my family goes to Japan. In the winter, it’s super cold there. In the summer, it’s really hot there and I like trunking it. How are the waves in Japan and what is your favorite wave there? The waves in Japan are super small, but the water is warm. I would really like to go to Mishima Island. I’ve never been there but I really want to surf it. I’ve only surfed two waves in Japan-Shonan and Chiba. The water is pretty dirty in Shonan. Chiba is pretty fun but so crowded because it’s the most consistent spot there. My dad also took me to a secret spot. I remember there were peaks everywhere and glassy and only about five guys out. What do you think your chances are of winning the Nationals this year? I hope they are high. I really want to win the Nationals. That’s a huge goal of mine. Any predictions on who is going to win the Open Men’s division at the Nationals this year? I hope it’s someone from California. Someone that I know so I can talk to them about how they won. It’s super hard to win the Nationals! You are still going to be in the Boys and Menehuene divisions next year. One year older do you think you can better the incredible season you are having this year? I don’t know. That would be sick if I broke my own record. That would be awesome. So you met Cory Arrambide today. What did you think of him? He’s really cool. At first I was kind of scared to talk with him because I broke his record. But he congratulated me and was super nice. He was ripping super hard down the beach. He was going pretty big, pulling off gnarly air reverses and weird tricks. |
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