Cory Lopez Sounds Off on the Current State of Surfing

The waves were a fun four foot, but nice and powerful as Indonesia gets. Lakey Peak, Sumbawa, was crowded but good enough to keep us out there, hoping for a set wave.

It was a really inconsistent swell, making it much more frustrating. There was a crew of locals and a pack of frothing groms.

Someone on the Inside

Suddenly, a flurry of waves, and everyone got a wave or two except myself and one or two others. An absolute gem popped up, and I was sure it was my wave. But there was someone on the inside. There’s always someone on the inside in Indo.

He looked at me and asked which way I was going. It was a good left and a shit right, so I called the left, and he gave it to me without blinking and didn’t bother with the right.

It was good to have Cory Lopez in the water.

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Winning a Porsche

Years ago, he won a Porsche. Apparently, it was a lovely car, but Cory didn’t get to see it because he was campaigning at the time, before mobile phones. I interviewed him about it all those years ago and reminded him.

“They tried to get through to me, and when I didn’t answer, they gave it to the next guy who answered the phone. Such a bummer,” he said with a huge grin.

He also rode the first wave at Donkey Bay—remember that? He also pushed it at Teahupo’o and snagged the cover of the SURFER Magazine annual with a deep tube at the notorious reef break. Still, here he was at Lakey’s with his son, daughter, and one of their friends, having the time of his life while the Margaret River Pro was on and surfers were callously being cut from the system.

“It is an exciting event to watch,” agreed Cory, “but it is brutal on the surfers. I have no idea how it [The Cut] happened. We used to have such a strong surfer representative system, and we used to have guys like Grevil Mitchell looking after the surfers. Now it seems these decisions are made without too much surfer input.”

History Repeats

It’s not like this hasn’t happened before, though.

“We still got cut back in the day from 44 surfers to 32 surfers,” remembers Cory. “It’s so weird. There we were, deciding and basically firing 12 of our friends. I opposed it, but it happened, even with our representatives. At the time, we thought that unless we cut it to 32, the tour would not happen, so it was a decision that had to be made. No one wanted the tour to stop.”

So, the more things change, the more they stay the same?

“It has changed, though. It definitely isn’t the tour it used to be. There are so many reasons, and I don’t even know what they are, but when the brands ran the events and made their own marketing decisions and programs, about running the event, about calling it on, things seemed more real then.”

There was another flurry of waves and a few more under the belt as we floated around amongst the throng.

Women on Tour

Cory’s son, Luke, is a goofy-footer, and he rips; his daughter, Alana, is a natural-footer, and she also shreds. We got chatting about the new generation of women on Tour.

“It was so good to see the girls charging at Pipe,” said Cory. “That was full-on. Unless you’ve been out at Pipe and gone on a few sets, you have no idea how hard those girls were charging. Molly Picklum’s 10-pointer was so heavy, and the girl’s charging totally changed that event.”

With a smile, he continued: “It is also a bummer. My daughter will have to do something similar and charge Pipe one day if she wants to do well.”

I mentioned that I recently saw Gary Elkerton’s recent rant on Facebook about the WSL. Kong is not happy, and is talking about a rebel tour.

“I think the fundamental change to the sport was when they changed the name,” he said. “When the Association of Surfing Professionals became the World Surf League, they kind of quietly took it away from the surfers. The name was no longer indicative of the surfers, who are the professionals, but rather about a sports league, with owners. It’s a subtle change but with long-term repercussions. I’m not surprised at Gary having a rant. He was always about the surfers; he was totally about the surfers. So was I. There are two sides, obviously, but I understand and totally feel for the surfers.”

For the spectators, however, the Margaret River contest and The Cut have so much excitement and drama. It’s probably the most exciting event of the year, more so than the Finals at Trestles.

The Expense of the Surfers

“It is exciting, at the expense of the surfers,” Cory mused. “Those guys and girls who surfed so hard last year through the Challenger Series and made it on the tour had five events to prove themselves. Some of them had injuries, and some of them had a few bad heats, and now they’re off again. Some have other dramas in their lives, and some get pushed out by wildcards. It’s grueling to have to requalify again. Some of them won’t come back.”

Then there’s Trestles. I am not a fan, and have always enjoyed the spectacle of Pipe, whether it be a Title contest or not. Lopez differs:

“I actually enjoy the Finals Day at Trestles. It’s an exciting event to watch, and I like the format. I understand it’s about the audience and the ability to run it off quickly and get loads of attention.”

For a few years now, the tour seemed to have no life or joy from a spectator’s view, with so many weird decisions and negativity. There were always some weird calls and so many strange management decisions. It’s like there needed to be someone in charge or making the right decisions.

Now, it does seem to be changing.

Fun on Tour

“Yes, there has been a shift recently,” Cory continued. “Now we have the women coming up having so much fun. It’s clear that they love it, and we also have the fresh San Clemente push.”

And the Cola Bros and the 2 Percent crew, and all that. Cory:

“What they are doing is so good. They are making it fun to be on the tour and making it all cool again. I love what they are doing. It’s good entertainment.”

Lopez strikes up easy conversations with strangers in the water, stopping to chat with anyone and everyone who reaches out. When the big sets come through, he takes off deep when he’s not giving waves away, and rips the shit out of them. Still, he’s on holiday and is just taking it all in.

“I hadn’t surfed for about four months before coming here,” said the Floridian. “The surf has been so bad at home. The groms go out regardless, but sometimes, getting the motivation to surf is hard. In the mornings, I grab a big coffee, drive onto the beach with the kids, and then they surf while I sit in the car, sip my coffee, and listen to talk radio. So, just getting a few waves here is great, and it feels good to get going again.”

Someone on the Inside…Again

The next day was much of the same. The kids were out, and it was super inconsistent. Cory was filming the kids from the rivermouth.

Suddenly, another mad hustle and a few sets poured through.

A perfect, solid wave appeared in front of me, but once again, someone was on my inside. There’s always someone on the inside in Indo, I mentioned that.

It was a fresh-eyed grom, and he was in the perfect position to take off and get an absolute bomb while I was further on the shoulder. For a split second, we had eye contact. Surprisingly, for a frothing kid wanting nothing but every wave under the sun in front of his mates, he just said, “Go.”

I scratched in and scored a rare bomb. I was so stoked; it was my best wave of the session. That grom who gave me the wave was Luke Lopez.

It was my wave, but no one understands or cares about the queue in a dog-eat-dog scenario like crowded Lakey Peak. Still, he acknowledged the older guy, desperate for a decent wave count amongst the fit, amped groms, and he gave it to me.

I thanked him afterwards.

“No worries,” Luke said, “It was your turn.”

Legend. Like father, like son.