We’ve been waiting 10 years for Kolohe Andino to win a Championship Tour event.
He’s been close: In 2019 Andino finished runner-up to Italo Ferreira on the Gold Coast. After that result — a last second split decision that went Ferreira’s way — it felt like a win was right around the corner. Like he’d break down the invisible barrier and smash the field at one of the next few events.
Somehow, it just didn’t happen.
In recent years, his results have waned, despite his surfing in freesurfs and movies like “Reckless Isolation” looking sharper than ever. Surfing is a mental game, and Andino admitted as much in a recent interview with STAB, saying: “I think my biggest setback has been the times when I wasn’t myself. I’m myself when I think clearly, see people for who they are, compete at a high level, and enjoy it. Maybe I haven’t been myself, more than I have been myself, for last 10-15 years. That’s been super spotty for me. I’ve been number one in the world before, six or seven events deep into the tour. I was high-ranked and miserable at times.”
Having just fallen off Tour for the first time in over 10 years, Andino is joining his San Clemente 2% crew on the Challenger Series. With a couple of big results, we’ll see him back on the CT at Pipe in January. Which is right where he belongs. With another chance to win a CT, something we (still) feel confident will happen in Andino’s career. He’s too talented. One of these events is bound to break his way.
After a decade on the CT, a mental reset might be just what Andino needs.
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