Photo: Crosby Colapinto // Instagram
Crosby Colapinto just experienced every athlete’s nightmare: an injury right on the eve of the competitive season. With just over a week until the window for the Pipe Pro event, Colapinto found himself on the wrong end of a reef while surfing Backdoor in Oahu, with a broken elbow to show for it.
“On the third wave in this clip, I jumped forward off my board after the back spit because I was too deep,” explained Colapinto on an Instagram post announcing the development. “[I] fell into the vortex of the lip and the lip ended up going straight to the bottom breaking the flat water. I didn’t touch any water and straight elbow to reef. So grateful that it was my elbow and not something way worse.”
A broken elbow is bad enough, but the injury stings even more for being so close to what promised to be a banner season for Crosby. Last year, he was named Rookie of the Year, along with Sawyer Lindblad, and no doubt hoped to keep that momentum going into 2025. “What really hurts the most is the timing of it all with the start of the year just a couple weeks away,” he continued. “But I am excited for this challenge that stands in front of me at this moment, And excited to see what comes out of this. ‘Challenges strengthen you and problems weaken you.’
“I am going into surgery on Wednesday and will keep everyone updated on how it all goes and the journey of coming back. Thank you to everyone who has reached out and who have sent the love. I will be back soon and this is all part of the journey. I just have to trust it. We are on the spaceship too many!”
Colapinto’s injury is not the only one to prelude the 2025 CT season. Just a week ago, Gabriel Medina revealed that he suffered a torn pectoral muscle while surfing in Maresias. After Medina’s ensuing surgery, his doctor told Olympics.com that the Brazilian will need six to eight months to recover, counting him out for the first half of the season.
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