Conner Coffin is a busy guy. Just check his Facebook status: “I’m pretty overwhelmed right now…” it says. After landing the cover of SURFING Magazine’s NSSA Program, winning the Open Juniors division at the NSSA West Coast Championships in Huntington Beach this past weekend, as well as making the final and finishing third in the Open Mens (a division he’s surfing up in), we thought we’d check in on Conner, via Facebook and see just what it is that’s overwhelming him.
SURFING MAGAZINE: HEY CHAMP, WHAT’S WITH YOUR STATUS? TOO MUCH WINNING OR WHAT?
CONNER COFFIN: Hahah not too much winning, too much school and not enough time.
YOU'RE CURRENTLY ON THE COVER OF OUR NSSA PROGRAM AND NOW YOU WON THE OPEN JUNIORS DIVISION AT WESTERNS. YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE ON A ROLL AS NATIONALS APPROACHES?
Well, I am super stoked on the cover! And Westerns was definitely cool to win, so I am definitely feeling in good rhythm.
WHERE WAS THAT COVER SHOT AT?
The cover was in Hawaii at Pupukea. Just this one random evening when the waves were super fun.
YOU SEEM TO HAVE THOSE GRAB RAIL BLOW TAILS PRETTY DIALED. YOU CHUCKING THOSE IN CONTESTS YET?
I haven't really done any in comps yet and I wouldn't necessarily say that I have them dialed. There was a little stretch there where I was doing them quite a bit, though. But honestly, I think the one on the cover was the last one I’ve done in quite some time.
HOW WERE THE WAVES THIS PAST WEEKEND IN HB?
It was fun. The first few days were a bit tricky, inconsistent and pretty soft, but the last day of the comp was really fun: peaky little rights that were slammable.
TAKE US THROUGH THE FINAL...WHO WAS OUT THERE WITH YOU?
The final was Ian Crane, Jared Thorne, and Kanoa Igarashi. It was pretty slow really. I sat for a bit and then got a 7.17. Ian had like a pair of fives and I needed something like a 4 to win. I got a 3 and then with maybe 4 minutes left, I got a fun little right and they gave me an 8.5. Right when I turned around though and watched Ian do a big air reverse. Luckily for me it wasn't quite enough for him to win though. It was pretty exciting right at the end.
AS COVER BOY, NUMBER ONE CONTENDER FOR JUNIORS AND A BIG WIN AT WESTERNS, WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO YOU WINNING THE NATIONAL TITLE?
Keanu Asing seems to win everything lately, and Brother just rips. He is always a huge threat and has been surfing so well. Golden Boy [Evan Geiselman] rips too.
THESE SOUND LIKE INTERESTING MATCH UPS AT LOWERS.
Yeah, it’s always interesting when there are some good battles, which I’m sure there will be some solid ones this year.
SO WHAT'S ON DECK FOR YOU IN BETWEEN NOW AND NATIONALS?
Well, speaking of overwhelming I’m off to Indo on Thursday, so that is what’s been overwhelming me really. I’m behind in school and I’m out of here in two days.
YOU PROBABLY WON'T FIND TOO MANY PEOPLE TO PITY YOU
I know. And don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not complaining, but between Westerns, rushing to prom Sunday night and leaving for Indo Thursday, I’ve been going non-stop
WAIT, SO YOU WON WESTERNS AND THEN WHISKED A LITTLE HOTTY OFF TO PROM THAT NIGHT…AND YOU'RE GOING TO INDO THURS?
Yeah, this girl I’ve been hanging out with a bit wanted me to go with her so I left Westerns at 2:30 right as my final ended and put my tux on in the car and came skidding in just in time.
THIS IS SOMETHING YOU MAY NEED TO GET USED TO...
Yeah, well I don’t mind. It was fun
HOW WAS THE DANCE? DID YOU TEAR THE FLOOR APART?
I tried. I’ve always been a pretty terrible dancer...but I’ve been working on itAnd the dance floor was raging. It was a long night though. Didn’t get home until 4:30 a.m. to be exact. I’m still half asleep.
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 2009 NSSA WEST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
OPEN MENS
1. Luke Davis
2. Christian Saenz
3. Conner Coffin
4. Parker Coffin
OPEN JUNIORS
1. Conner Coffin
2. Ian Crane
3. Kanoa Igarashi
4. Jared Thorne
OPEN BOYS
1. Kanoa Igarashi
2. Patrick Curren
3. Jacob Davis
4. Brogie Panesi
5. Skip McCullough
6. Jake Marshall
OPEN MINI GROMS
1. Jake Marshall
2. Tyler Gunter
3. John Mel
4. Kei Kobayashi
5. Griffin Colapinto
6. Nolan Rapoza
OPEN WOMENS
1. Courtney Conlogue
2. Lakey Peterson
3. Taylor Pitz
4. Catherine Clark
OPEN LONGBOARD
1. Scott Brandenburg
2. Michael Maddox
3. Matt Elias-Calles
4. Shaun Thompson
5. Liam Hession
6. Kirra Kehoe
WEST COAST AIRSHOW CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Conrad Carr
2. Sam Orozco
3. Ian Crane
4. Luke Davis
=5. Andrew Jacobson & Lakey Peterson
WEST COAST EXPLORER CHAMPIONSHIPS
EXPLORER MENS
1. Kokoro Tomatsuri
2. Conrad Carr
3. Tanner Kehl
4. Britt Galland
5. Nick Rowe
6. Brent Bowen
EXPLORER JUNIORS
1. Parker Coffin
2. Derrick Disney
3. Theo Lewiit
4. Porter Hogan
5. Andrew Jacobson
6. Shayne Nelson
EXPLORER BOYS
1. Jacob Halstead
2. Parker Coffin
3. Kanoa Igarashi
4. Breyden Taylor
5. Trevor Thornton
6. Nic Hdez
EXPLORER MENEHUENE
1. Kanoa Igarashi
2. Patrick Curren
3. Jake Marshall
4. Brogie Panesi
5. Skip McCullough
6. Decker McAllister
EXPLORER WOMENS
1. Lakey Peterson
2. Natalie Anzivino
3. Shelby Detmers
4. Chloe Buckley
5. Alex Ross
6. Catherine Clark
EXPLORER GIRLS
1. Lakey Peterson
2. Shelby Detmers
3. Frankie Harrer
4. Jordan Hundley
5. Harley Taich
6. Melina Smith
EXPLORER MASTERS
1. Rick Takahashi
2. Chris Keet
3. Chris Munsterman
4. Tim Senneff
5. Kevin Frederick
6. Neil Bern
EXPLORER SENIORS
1. Rusty Phillipy
2. Rick Takahashi
3. Mike Lamm
4. Jeff Marder
5. Neil Bern
6. Mike Gillard
EXPLORER SUPER SENIORS
1. Rusty Phillipy
2. Mike Lamm
3. Mike Gillard
4. Tim Senneff
5. Masaki Kobayashi
6. Robert Weiner
EXPLORER LONGBOARD
1. Mike Gillard
2. Terry Gillard
3. Shaun Thompson
4. Rory Golden
5. JP Garcia
6. Christian Stutzman