Courtney Conlogue on a rail in Mexico; frame grab from video
If you had to come up with one word to describe pro surfer Courtney Conlogue it would be “warrior.” The 22-year-old from Santa Ana, California, lit the surfing world on fire with her hard-charging performance during the 2009 U.S. Open, which was held in giant, 8- to 10-foot surf at California’s Huntington Beach Pier, and has never looked back. As she recovers from a serious ankle injury she suffered while warming up for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, we thought it would be a great time to fire some questions her way …
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From dawn till dusk, walk us through your dream day.
Because of my recent ankle injury I’ve been out of the water for nine weeks! I’ve never been out of the water for this long since I was 3 years old, so right now the perfect dream day would have to include the ocean and my surfboard. I’d start my day with an early morning combo swell, lots of barrels, and surf with my whole family. I grew up surfing with my dad, brother, and sister all the time, and now that we’ve all gone our own directions it doesn’t happen very often. My brother is busy with college and my sister’s is traveling the world teaching, diving, and exploring our oceans. It’s very rare these days for all of us to be together, so any time with everyone is very special—family is very important to me. Then I’d grab a great cup of coffee and chill. Mid-day we’d head out for more surf, do some fishing, and finish the day with a big barbecue with steaks and fresh fish!
Who’s in your personal hall of fame?
I look up to artists, musicians, athletes, family, and just random people. They’ve influenced the way that I carry myself throughout my life by their examples. I read Apolo Ohno’s book and have watched him during his career—I love his story and his pure commitment to conquer his dreams. Kelly Slater for his endless devotion and focus to his sport and the way that he’s evolved himself—he continually progresses the level of professional surfing and has been a great role model. I’ve also watched all the influential women in surfing who have paved the road for my generation. They’ve inspired me to pursue competitive surfing and to be the best that I can be at any given time. Joel Parkinson has shown me that sometimes a dream might take more than a year, but as long as you learn from your losses, develop yourself, and never back down, anything is possible. My family has inspired me a ton. My oldest sister with her endless love and caring for nature and the sea, my little for brother continually following his passions and trying to make his dreams a reality, and my mom and dad. What can I say? They are just frickin’ awesome for being able to establish a strong family and assisting us in finding our dreams and accomplishing them. Their love and selflessness for us inspires me.
Courtney Conlogue is all smiles in mainland Mexico; frame grab from video
What are you reading right now?
Since I had to pull out of the Bells event due to my ankle injury, I’ve had more time to catch up on my reading. I’ve been able to read all my National Geographic, Cosmo, Glamour, Women’s Health, and Architectural Digest magazines that were waiting for me when I came home from the World Tour. I’ve been reading books on healing, too. Along with my reading, my journal has been getting a lot of attention these days.
What are you watching?
I don’t have much time to just sit down and watch much, but I do love to go to the movies, watch a great TV series, or watch the live web feed of the contests and heats on demand. I pretty much enjoy anything from chick flicks to dramas or action and comedies. A few of my favorites are “Game of Thrones,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “New Girl,” and “Americas Got Talent.”
What are you listening to?
I love Spotify! It makes it so easy to listen to anything on demand. I have a playlist that’s continually changing for workouts and heats, but I do keep a few songs that work well for me. I love listening to a variety of genres, but lately I have been jamming to Will.i.am, Sia, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Bastille, Lorde, and One Republic.
The hallmark of a great surfer is a good bottom turn … and Courtney Conlogue has ’em on lock; frame grab from video
What’s your world view?
Preserve the past and impact the future … obviously for the better! I think there are a lot of great things we can learn and take from the past and keep around but we should make the correct changes so that we can impact the future health of people and our planet. I try to live my day-to-day wanting to experience it like it could be my last. Not like a bummer thing, but just really appreciating everything that’s around me.
Dead or alive, who would you invite to your private party?
It would be incredible to have Elvis Presley there playing for family and friends! I’ve loved him ever since I can remember. Michael Jackson would need to be there, too. I’d get everyone dancing to “Thriller” with an art deco theme. And of course, Minions if they were real!
Any regrets along the way?
I’m still pretty young to really have much baggage in this area! Umm … regrets. Not many at this point in my life. I’ve made mistakes, but do I regret them? Not really. I find that my mistakes have taught me a lot, and they haven’t been extremely crazy or costly. I think I’d have regrets if I hadn’t learned from the situations, so I really don’t get too down on things.
Tell us about your most embarrassing moment.
It would have to be forgetting my wetsuit in the dead of winter in California—that was horrible! I’d just finished school and we drove from Newport down to Carlsbad to go training with a surf coach. When we arrived I opened the tailgate to realize my wetsuit wasn’t there. All I had in the car was a Sage Hill Water polo bathing suit. At that point I knew I couldn’t turn back, so I trained with the coach for an hour-and-a-half and came in purple. It took me two hours to thaw out!
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