Surfing
Surfing
How I became pro: Andrew Cotton
The British big wave surfer on his journey from his local beach in north Devon to surfing some of the biggest waves of all time.
As a teenager, Andrew ‘Cotty’ Cotton was so preoccupied, so much so that his teachers reported his obsession to his parents.
“One year, my maths teacher said in my report that if I spent as much time thinking about maths problems as I did about surfing and drawing waves in my textbook, then I'd be pretty good at maths,” he laughs. “I never was any good at maths.”
This infatuation began when Cotty was 8 years old and asked if he could have a go at the sport. “My parents hired me a surfboard and a wetsuit, and they sat in the car while I got freezing cold in the sea. It was brutal, but I loved it.”
By the time his next birthday came round, there was only one thing he wanted. “My parents bought me a surfboard from Chapter Surf Shop. It was super-Eighties, luminous green and pink with a lightning bolt down it. It was rad. I wish I had one now, actually.”
Cotty was naturally confident in the water due to suffering from severe asthma as a child and was advised by specialists that swimming was good for the condition. “I was a member of lots of swimming and water polo clubs,” he says. “With swimming, there was a lot of rules, whereas with surfing it was more just make it up as you go along. I liked being left to my own devices to work things out.”
A young Cotty practises his skate skills
© Andrew Cotton
Andrew started surfing at the age of 8
© Andrew Cotton
Joining the club
It wasn’t long before he joined Croyde Surf Club, where he had the opportunity to learn from other surfers and local heroes. “Bowse Freeman was the local big wave legend. The local guys were competing and doing well and I wanted to be like them. That’s when I realised that surfing was what I wanted to do.”
Cotty began to compete in surfing competitions, representing his club both locally and nationally. “I was generally terrible but had moments of brilliance,” he says. “Locally, I won a few things for my age group, but nationally, I always did terribly.” He has fond memories in particular of the inter-club surf competitions. “If you won a heat and got points for your local beach, it was a big moment. I remember pulling off some big heats and getting points for Croyde. We were interclub champions – that was a highlight of my competitive career.”
The dream of becoming a pro surfer was taking root at the back of his mind, but saying it out loud always provoked the same response. “When I mentioned it to anyone, it was almost laughable,” he says. “I was told by the careers advisor [at school] that surfing wasn't a job – that it was simply not possible. So I left school and ended up just aiming to work in the surf industry.”
He landed a job working for Gulfstream Surfboards, a local surfboard manufacturer where he started out sweeping floors and worked his way up to selling boards. “It was brutal work, not particularly glamorous and poorly paid, but it was the dream,” he says. “We worked around surf conditions as all the staff wanted to surf as much as possible.” The shop closed in the off-season, so Cotty spent that time surfing in locations around the world. “It was through being able to travel that I found my niche – surfing big waves. I realised that I might not be the best small-wave surfer, but I loved big waves. And that was it.”
Andrew during the making of Beneath The Surface in Killybegs, Ireland
© Jorge Leal / Red Bull Content Pool
Plumbed in
That was his life until 25-year-old Cotty was given an ultimatum by his dad. “He basically told me that I had to sort my shit out and that I can't surf forever. So he suggested-stroke-pressured me to do a plumbing course.”
Becoming a plumber only made Cotty more determined to follow his passion. “I was installing solar panels and underfloor heating and earning pretty good money, but I was miserable,” he says. “I hated it. I worked with guys who loved going to work on Monday morning and talked about copper work like I talked about waves. I realised that working within my passion was important to me.”
Big waves became my niche – I loved the chase and the fact I have the chance to ride the biggest wave of my life. It was such a buzz
Even at this point, big wave surfing wasn’t really a ‘thing’ – there was no scene and few people doing it. But Cotty had a plan. “I re-structured everything,” he says. “Rather than plumbing, I got a summer job with the RNLI, which paid alright. Being a lifeguard, I trained every day in the environment I loved, learned to ride jet skis and trained in life-saving, which is key if you’re going to be in dangerous situations in the ocean.”
Instead of travelling to far-flung locations such as Australia or Hawaii to chase swells, he stayed closer to home, searching the west coast of Ireland in his quest to surf giant slabs. “Big waves became my niche,” he says. “I loved the chase, and the fact that a few times a year, I have the chance to ride the biggest wave of my life. It was such a buzz.”
Part of the process: Cotty plans his year around chasing the biggest swells
© Olaf Pignataro / Red Bull Content Pool
'Cotty' was worried he was too old to be signed with Red Bull
© Richie Hopson / Red Bull Content Pool
Record books
Six months later, in March 2012, another key moment came when Cotty surfed one of the biggest waves he’d ever surfed in Mullaghmore Head, Ireland. “I took all I’d learned while surfing with Garrett. If I hadn't spent that time with him, I wouldn't have got that wave. My approach and mindset were very much down to seeing him do what he did in Nazaré.” The wave was nominated for surfing’s prestigious XXL Big Wave Awards, ending a memorable 12 months for the surfer.
But despite this, he says he believed his dreams of becoming pro would never become reality. “I thought, ‘I’m too old to sign with Red Bull. They're never going to sign me.’ So when the contract was offered to me, I was blown away.”
Andrew was determined to get back on the waves after his accident
© Andrew Cotton
A 55ft wave flung Andrew off his board and he fractured his L2 vertebrae
© Andrew Cotton
One of Cotty’s most widely reported and dramatic moments came three years later in November 2017. He was charging down a 55ft wave when he was flung off his board into the roiling water and suffered a compression fractured his L2 vertebrae. But his mental process during his recovery showed just how strong an athlete he is. “There was no doubt in my mind that it was not over,” he says. “I knew 100% that I'd be back. The accident was such big news, I thought, ‘I don't want to be remembered for a wipeout. I’ve got to come back and get a bigger wave.’”
It’s a tribute to Cotty’s determination, dedication and mental strength that he returned to big waves less than a year later, and at the end of 2020, surfed a potential world record beating 80ft wave in Nazaré.
“My aims as a surfer change all the time” he says. “But for any professional big wave surfer, it’s all about getting that one ride of the winter. The whole year revolves around riding a wave for a few seconds. It’s all subjective, but it’s also quite personal. Just spending as much time as you can in the water on the biggest days, and then you’re in with a chance of riding one of the biggest waves of the year, if not ever.”
