Conner Coffin announced his retirement from competitive surfing Thursday after his Round of 32 heat at the US Open of Surfing. At 29 years old, the Californian walks away from six full seasons on the Championship Tour, which included finishing fourth in the rankings in 2021 and an appearance in the inaugural WSL Finals.
“For the last year my head and heart just haven’t been fully committed to competing and I have always been someone who needs to follow my heart and intuition to feel happy and fulfilled in life,” he wrote on social media. “There are things I will miss, but I am truly excited to turn the page to a new chapter of my surf career. I’m far from retiring and I feel like I have my best surfing to do and new adventures to chase. I’ve always felt that surfing is so unique and such a rich culture that goes so far beyond competition.”
Officially walking away from competition doesn’t come as a major surprise. Coffin had been honest about his mindset and approach coming off the 2022 rollercoaster that included missing the CT’s first mid-year cut and then failing to re-qualify through the Challenger Series. He gave a strong showing in his first CS event, earning an equal fifth at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast Pro, but he has failed to crack the top 1o in any events since. As time went on that seemed to be more a consequence of his mindset moving away from competition than having lost a step. He was less than a year away from world title contention, after all. And in an interview with The Inertia in early 2023, Coffin shared that free surfing was getting more and more of his attention and he wasn’t resentful of no longer being on tour.
“I loved competing and being on the CT for all those years, but you know, all of a sudden now it feels kind of good to have a little bit more time and maybe get to explore some other things and do some fun projects that I haven’t had time to do. And my current sponsors are all on board,” he told The Inertia. “I might still compete this year, I haven’t decided yet one way or the other,” he added. “I might have a blast and keep going with the Challenger Series. But right now, it’s been pretty nice to have time to hit the brakes and look at where I want to take the next chapter of my career.”
Just six months later and he’s turning the page to start that new chapter.
