In a year when the rookie class quickly went from revelations to another crop of freshmen struggling to stay on tour, the highly coveted Rookie of the Year award came down to just two surfers and one heat this morning (or three surfers, if you count the role Kelly Slater played in things).
After Brazilian surprise package Caio Ibelli lost in Round 2 of the Pipe Masters, all Conner Coffin needed to do to snatch the title from him was make it past his Round 3 opponent. Having made a final already this season and with wins over big names like Mick Fanning and Jordy Smith behind him, this wouldn’t have seemed like an insurmountable task for the talented young Californian, but against one Robert Kelly Slater at Backdoor Pipe, that’s ultimately what it proved to be.
While Slater stayed busy throughout the first half of their exchange, notching up a handful of sneaky barrels and noteworthy scores under the priority of competitors in the other heat in the water, Conner failed to find anything of substance and looked to be in trouble from the outset. Once the pair took control of the line-up at the halfway point of their match-up, however, Conner resorted to the same faithful waiting game he used to such good effect in Portugal when he defeated Jordy Smith in the semis and handed John John the title. With seven minutes left on the clock, he broke the combo situation Kelly had him in with a 6.13 for a fast-running Backdoor tube. Then Kelly upped the ante with one of the longest and most well-ridden barrels of the day, netting an 8.27 and once again throwing Conner’s dreams of joining the Rookie of the Year honours list into doubt. Minutes past. Conner waited patiently. Then, with less than two minutes remaining on the clock, he swung under the lip of the best wave of the heat. He set his line. He travelled cleanly. The wave spat and Conner came flying out behind it before setting a brief rail and looking up at the judges as if to say, ‘Don’t give me the 9.14 I need, I dare you.’
They didn’t. They gave him a 9.07, and with that, Caio Ibelli was awarded the 2016 Rookie of the Year award. Conner was gutted. He raised two middle fingers in the direction of the judging tower and got the hell out of there. But while he didn’t win the award, there were probably a number of tour vets watching from the beach who, if given the chance, could’ve pointed out to him the lesson he’d just been handed, a lesson they’ve all had to learn over the years: when it comes to the big heats, when it comes to Kelly, you better make it decisive.
Lesson learned, kid. See you next year.
