Surf

A Fork in the Road for Carissa Moore

carissamoore_heff_mg_1315 Senior Prom or World Tour? It’s a question ripe in the mind of Carissa Moore, your current women’s ’QS leader. We’re currently more than three-quarters of the way through the ’QS season and Carissa, whether it was her intention of qualifying when she began the season or not, is poised to make her debut at the elite level come 2010. But it may not be such a simple choice for the prodigy as Carissa’s decision to attend, and excel, at one of the country’s most prestigious high schools, Punahou School in Honolulu, has been blasted over every bit of editorial that’s accompanied the 16-year-old. All of this begs the question: With one year of high school left and a potential ticket to the Big Leagues at her fingertips, will it be books or ’CT heat sheets for Carissa Moore next year? Read on to find out.

FSM: You’re currently ranked number-one on the ’QS. When you first started off this season, were you trying to qualify for the Tour or did it just sort of happen?

Carissa Moore: [laughs] Well, Coco Ho and I are both ranked first right now. But in the beginning of the year I just wanted to do a few events and see how I did. You know, just give it my best shot and see what happens. But I’ve had a few good results along the way but there’s still a few events left and anything can happen.

FSM: What are you going to do if you qualify? Are you planning on finishing up your last year of high school or will you hit the road on the ’CT?

CM: I can’t really say yet for sure because I haven’t qualified just yet. There’s still a few events left. I think it would be a dream come true to be traveling on the ’CT and going to school and surfing all of those waves, but I can’t say just yet because the season’s not over.

FSM: Can you talk about school a little bit and are you looking forward to your senior year?

CM:I’m actually really looking forward to my senior year. There’s a bunch of things that I’ve always wanted to do as a senior like go to senior prom. I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.

FSM: I know you’re good friends with Coco Ho, has she given you any advice on the ’CT?

CM: Yeah, a little bit. She said the waves are super fun and she really likes it. She said that she just loved going to Snapper. She said that’s been her favorite.

FSM: For the rest of the season, what events are you really looking forward to doing?

CM: I’m looking forward to going to Huntington for the US Open. I haven’t been there in a while, but it’s such a crazy event. It should be fun.

FSM: I couldn’t help but notice that you weren’t at Lowers this year for Nationals. Are your NSSA days over?

CM: Yeah, I think so. I’ve had a lot of fun doing the NSSA and it was a great experience, but I think I’m done competing there. The good news is that my little sisters have started surfing in the NSSA so that’s gonna be a lot of fun.

Occy and Curren Redux?

Can it be true? Occy and Curren, battling it out again? We know the whole retro thing is back in full swing right now but this is just too good.

Thanks to the ingenious marketing ploy by Billabong, we're going to be privy to one of the greatest rivalries this sport has ever seen come July 9. That's right, it's fire and ice and it's on as a special heat during the Billabong Pro J-Bay. Stay tuned to Freesurfmagazine.com as we bring you the goods and the latest info from the battle of the year...all that and these guys aren't even on the tour!

Keanu Asing Unstoppable?

keanu2

Amid an eclectic mix of the most prodigiously talented junior surfers the world has ever seen stands 16-year-old Hawaiian Keanu Asing. With his mix of power, finesse, and progression, Keanu is the tip of the spear and is comfortably perched at the threshold of surfing’s next big talent boom, ready to lay waste to the old standard and usher himself and his counterparts into surfing’s history. Forget the Momentum Generation and their ilk because what Keanu and his cohorts will bring to the game will out shadow anything we’ve ever seen.

FREESURF Magazine's Picks for WCT Brazil

Going into Brazil, with the race for the title still very much wide open, we here at FREESURF thought we’d set you wise to our picks to watch out for in the event. Keep in mind that as a collective of writers, editors, and art directors that we’ve only made a few heats competitively (with the exception of Mike Latronic)…so we may not be the best people to give advice on the subject. But then again, that’s never stopped us before. Without further ado, here’s our picks for Brazil. Get some, dear reader.

Kevin Whitton, Editor: I’m going with Jordy Smith. After sticking that ridiculous Rodeo, Brazil will the be the kind of shitty wave that will be perfect for him to pull something crazy…he'll be Rodeo flipping his way to the podium.

Tony Heff, Photo Editor: I’ve got to go with my boy Ceej. Cause he’s from Florida and those guys know their beachbreaks.

Prone to Sass: Adam Bice on doing it lying down

4904_88548382990_688487990_1911807_5135593_n In a word, Adam Bice is "classic." Kauai classic at that. He stems from what may possibly be the most outrageous (read sacracastic) crew of a long line of bodyboarding clans to call the Garden Island home. In between Facebook updates, and pulling into closeouts, Bice found a few minutes to chew the fat with FREESURF. —Jeff Mull