Keoni Lasa absolutely rips. Thing is, he isn’t even a teenager yet. Hailing from Zarautz, Spain—just west of San Sebastián—this summer the Lasa family made a pilgrimage to Southern California. We can only imagine Keoni’s excitement seeing Lowers pumping firsthand. “Kid in a candy store,” seems fitting.
Point is, Keoni’s future is bright, especially since he’s able to travel so often around the world chasing some incredible waves. Just a few months before heading to California, Spanish surf outlet Mar Gruesa reported Keoni happened to get some help from none other than reigning champ John John Florence in the lineup during a trip to Australia after Keoni’s own board clipped his face pretty badly.
“I was surfing Rainbow Bay when I got a wave before the set, I pulled into the barrel and the lip hit me in the head,” Keoni told Mar Gruesa. “When I was flipping underwater my board hit me in the face. I took the whole set on the head and after John John appeared. He asked me if I was OK, and when he saw I was bleeding he helped me out of the water. He stayed with me until the lifeguards arrived and called my parents. We went to the hospital and I got a few stitches. The next day I was able to tell him thanks for his help.”
A pretty rad story all around. It’ll be especially cool to look back on if Keoni makes the tour someday and is surfing against John John.
