2024 Championship Tour Rookies Hit North Shore For Some Pre-Season Training
The start of the WSL Championship Tour is a month away and the 2024 rookie class appears intent on upsetting the establishment. This month San Clemente's Crosby Colapinto, Cole Houshmand and Kade Maston joined their buddy from Lahaina, Maui, Eli Hanneman, in the islands for a couple weeks of training, surfing and prepping for the season. Putting in the time at Pipe and Sunset, the first two stops of the tour this year, based on this latest video drop, the four friends are going to be a problem for tour veterans next season.
Not only are all four surfers abundantly talented in their own right, but it's the dynamic between them that makes them all so dangerous. They're tight. They heckle each other. They push each other. They support each other. They went through the fire together on the Challenger Series last year and are now they're taking that energy and drive to the biggest stage in surfing.
As with any rookie, there are going to be lessons learned and moments that humble, but as the boys get their feet in the wax and settle into tour life, they're going to evolve into a force. Don't be surprised if they collectively start showing up in quarter and semifinal heats sooner rather than later. This rookie class is special, more special than most. After years of dominance by Brazilian surfers, as well as Australians to a lesser degree, it's a generational shift in favor of America and Hawaii. These boys are hungry, motivated and ready to go all in. Game on.
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With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.