Kolohe’s coming of age. Photo: ASP | Smorigo
You could see it with each closeout crack and completed aerial. The potential that has, for two whole years, been locked inside the tense, constipated, temperamental frame of Kolohe Andino was beginning to flow, and it was coming in a flood. Look no further than his tenacious backhand attack on inside runners during the final day for evidence of the river of determination coursing through his veins. Where the Andino of old would have sat out the back waiting for sets and cursing his bad luck, he suddenly felt compelled to do something about it. It was as though he’d finally realized that destiny was his for the making and that, when it comes down to it, very few in the world can match his scalpel-sharp rail and punt game in high performance conditions.
Andino’s coming of age began in round three when he toughed out a show stopping win over fellow hi-fi exponent Julian Wilson. The two surfers, which share many attributes when it comes to explosive aerials and creative fin hucks, went blow for blow. The win when to Andino after he dropped an 8.43 for an impressive tube in the dying stages.
But round five saw a return to the infantile antics that have dogged his career so far when he fell into an interference trap set by South African Travis Logie. It was a terrible piece of surfing from Andino, and it looked all but certain to end what could have been a career turning run. Then it happened: Andino got mad. But instead of punching the shit out of his board, as he did famously at Cloudbreak, he channelled his rage into scouring the lineup for a big score. With Logie unable to find a back up ride, the door was left open for an improbable Andino victory should he be able to drop one excellent ride. He sensed it too, patrolling the line up feverishly before eventually finding a heaving backside double-up barrel, which he navigated with impressive cool for the win on the buzzer. It set off an atomic bomb of self-belief in the San Clemente grom. He took down an in-form Bede Durbidge the heat after with a tenacious backside attack on the inside runners, appearing untouchable in their exchange and looking every bit the razor sharp teenager who enjoyed an unprecedented run of success as a junior on the American NSSA circuit.
He was to face up to Kelly Slater in the semi finals; a Kelly Slater in desperate need of a strong finish and whose presence on that final day had gone from jovial to resembling a beating, flexing Hulk of competitive energy and focus as the contest reached the pointy end.
The Champ had the kid on the ropes with five minutes to go. But, in a torrid exchange, Kolohe, who required not one but two scores to progress, picked off a waist high left and diced it like a Sashimi chef. He then nailed a big semi-rotated spin into the flats for a back up score leaving Slater in need with a minute to go. The Champ came at him, but couldn’t ride out of a vicious backhand slide, leaving Andino to take the win. He was undone by a severe Bourez backhand display in the final but it did not detract from one of the great performances by a surfer on tour in 2014. But you get that in beach breaks, and while Andino could only watch as the gods gifted Bourez victory, he learned a valuable lesson: you make your own luck in this game.
– Jed Smith
