Koa Smith, Ultimate Surfer-ing. Image: Screenshot/Koa Smith
After a ninth-place finish at the US Open in Huntington Beach and an event win at the MEO Portugal Pro, Zeke Lau has re-qualified for the WSL Championship Tour on his own merit, and now his Ultimate Surfer wildcards (which he earned by winning the show, if you recall) are “just floating up in the air up for grabs,” says Koa Smith. Koa, runner up to Zeke in the reality television show, obviously wants those wildcards, and on Monday he released the video below, telling – or perhaps pleading with – the WSL that he deserves the wildcards as runner-up in the Ultimate Surfer competition, and asking his followers to join him in support.
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I reached out to Koa and the WSL for clarity. I was able to chat with Koa yesterday morning as he sipped a bulletproof coffee at one of the Sunrise Shacks he started with his brothers and Koa Rothman on Oahu.
It would be a huge step in any surfer’s career to make it onto the global stage the WSL provides, but Koa shared that he has more personal reasons for his desire to compete on the CT. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do since I started surfing,” he said. “I grew up on Kaua’i when Andy and Bruce were absolutely killing it on tour. I went to school near them and I’d see Andy every day, and would tell myself that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up. Surf like Andy and be a world champion.”
Since then, Koa’s life has taken him down a different path as one of the most recognizable freesurfers in the game, known for his epic tube riding skills (see Skeleton Bay). He’s made multiple appearances on the QS at various events around the world but has yet to make it to the elite Championship Tour.
Koa is hoping those wildcards will take him to “any kind of barreling wave, so Pipeline, Teahupo’o, G Land… but beggars can’t be choosers.” Koa and his brother Alex at Teahupo’o. Photo: The Smith Brothers
Those wildcards would give him the opportunity to compete at three of the stops on the 2022 Championship Tour. That being said, it might take some work. “It’s not like it was in the contract that they had to give the runner up the wildcards,” said Koa “But I want to ramp up the pressure and convince them that although they could choose anyone to fill those spots, I would be the most exciting and competitive surfer they could choose. I feel like I’m at the top of my game right now and surfing the best I’ve ever surfed, so if they even gave me one wildcard, I’m hoping I’d be able to put on a good enough show to convince them to give me the other two.”
We reached out to the WSL and heard back late yesterday afternoon. “Only the grand prize winner has a right to wildcard entries,” a WSL spokesperson told me. “As a result of Zeke Lau’s qualification for the Championship Tour through the Challenger Series, he is unable to timely claim the wildcard entry portion of The Ultimate Surfer grand prize. As such, in accordance with the official rules for TUS, that portion of the prize is forfeited. These wildcard entries will be determined by the Tours and Competition Team ahead of each applicable Championship Tour stop in 2022.”
In other words, Koa has his work cut out for him. But at least now he knows who he needs to shamelessly lobby to give him those wildcards: Senior Vice President of Tours and Head of Competition, Jessi Miley-Dyer. If you think Koa should get those wildcards, as we do here at The Inertia, follow the steps in his post above, and #LETKOASURF!
