Surfing
Surfing
Surfer Kanoa Igarashi: The global citizen who's most at home in the ocean
California surfing with Japanese soul: Kanoa Igarashi isn't just riding the waves - he's redefining what it means to be a surfer.
There's no other surfer on tour quite like Kanoa Igarashi, who was a local Los Angeles TV station's favorite surfer long before he'd lost his first tooth. These days, he bases himself in three countries across three continents – and he also speaks four languages and competes across the seven seas on the World Surf League's Championship Tour.
After qualifying for the CT in 2015 and surfing as the tour's youngest rookie in 2016, it's been a hot and cold run for Igarashi in the eight years since, with four Top 10 ratings finishes and four event finals, including one win. Igarashi knows he's at the right level and that on his day he can beat anyone, he just needs to find the formula for more consistency and the world will be his for the taking. To find out more about who Igarashi is, and how he goes about his craft, read on.
Kanoa Igarashi surfs at the North Shore, Hawaii
© Trevor Moran / Red Bull Content Pool
01
Who is Kanoa Igarashi?
- He was born in Santa Monica and grew up in California. Both his parents are Japanese. Around the age of 12, he started traveling the world.
- He currently lives in California. "Will I live there forever? I have no idea", he says.
- Kanoa Igarashi was three years old when he first stood on a surfboard: "It was with my Dad, right there at Waikiki. Pretty stock standard."
- Kanoa Igarashi is a Hawaiian name that translates to “the free one.”
02
Learning to surf in Waikiki, Hawaii
It's may seem too clichéd to be true, but Kanoa Igarashi first stood up on a surfboard while on a family vacation in Hawaii, as he fondly recalled in the Red Bulletin, a couple of years ago.
Igarashi's been on the up since he was 3
© Kinoa Igarashi
Igarashi had seen the board of his dreams in a shop and asked his parents if they could buy it for him. They baulked at the price initially and said no, then went back the next day and bought it anyway. That afternoon, Tsutomu Igarashi, a devoted surfer himself, took his three-year-old son and that neon-yellow board out on the predictably placid surf on Waikiki Beach. “It was like a beautiful crystal-blue swimming pool with tiny waves, and I loved it,” says Igarashi. “It was like the best place to learn surfing ever.”
03
What drove Kanoa Igarashi to choose the surf life
"I first thought I was a pretty good surfer when I was seven years old," explains Igarashi. "I remember taking a trophy to show and tell at school, and my whole class was freaking out. But then when I first really thought that I wanted to pursue this life I was probably around 17, when I qualified."
17 seems a little late for a kid who, alongside Jack Robinson and Leonardo Fioravanti, spent most of his childhood around Championship Tour events, but while Igarashi remembers the great times, he's not sure he ever remembers paying much attention to the actual competition.
"I've probably been to about 30 events around the world over that time, watching them and being around the vibe," Igarashi told Red Bull, shortly after qualifying. "It's going to feel weird being there and competing, rather than just trying to get into the athletes' area and getting kicked out all the time!"
9 min
The Young Professionals: Kanoa and Leo
Kanoa Igarashi and Leonardo Fioravanti in Red Bull's series featuring surfing's youth.
Reflecting on what he said several years ago, Igarashi adds: "No one ever really remembers seeing us sitting down watching heats. I was 14, 15, 16 at the time and I wish I had watched a few heats and really taken it in the way we took in the atmosphere. I'd see all the behind-the-scenes stuff, I'd see how all the CT guys were training, how they were preparing, what they were eating and all this intricate stuff, but then I never really saw how they competed."
04
How surfing gives Kanoa Igarashi a sense of pure freedom
While competitions are important, they are far from the only reason that Igarashi loves to get on his board. "I love the feeling of just being so disconnected to everything in life," says Igarashi. "When you're in the water the only thing that matters is the next wave you're gonna catch. I don't know, it's crazy. There's something about surfing and being on a wave and you have this freedom, sort of like an art, like a painter and his tool. It’s my blank canvas to paint whatever I want on, depending on the day and how I feel.
Kanoa’s pot of gold
© Trevor Moran
"There’s a kind of freedom that comes with the feeling of being disconnected, in the water, surrounded by mother nature, it's a cleansing feeling that I’ve been lucky enough grow up with, and now I can't imagine a life without it."
05
Hitting the big time in Bali
Igarashi's first Championship Tour win seemed on the cards from the opening rounds of the 2019 Corona Bali Protected, held at the wicked right hand, black sand pointbreak of Keramas, a wave that has always played to his strengths. Igarashi came to Bali fired up and in form, his switch to Sharp Eye surfboards giving him a new lease of life, his surfing a little more sizzle.
Kanoa Igarashi, all smiles in Bali after his breakthrough win
© WSL
Kanoa Igarashi looking razor sharp on his way to the top of the podium
© WSL
Eyes on the prize, Kanoa Igarashi cuts a Keramas wave to ribbons
© WSL
Kanoa Igarashi flags down the best taxi in town for a ride to the podium
© WSL
The fact that Igarashi's longtime friend Tanner Carney was on hand to ride shotgun to his success, and roll tape on what would become the first episode of Beyond The Lines, was a sign of greatness ahead. Igarashi didn't miss a beat from the opening horn, and it was the peak of his career to date when he was chaired up the beach a week later, in a traditional Indonesian throne, wearing a crown and on top of the world.
06
Kanoa Igarashi's love for gym training
"I'd say my greatest weapon as a surfer is my ability to thrive under pressure. But then I often feel like I often have a hard time locking in when there's not enough on the line, or if I'm not in a hard situation. My strength is when I have that pressure, that's when I'm able to surf my best."
When it comes to physical and mental strength, Igarashi is a strong believer in working hard on both. "I love training," he says. "It's a huge part of my lifestyle. I go to the gym five or six times a week. It depends on the day but I love mixing things up. I'm a huge fan of CrossFit style workouts and weights training, so that's my go-to even around contests.
Kanoa in his element
© Morgan Maassen/Red Bull Content Pool
Kanoa Igarashi surfs at Margaret River, April 2016
© Trevor Moran / Red Bull Content Pool
Kanoa Igarashi surfs at Torquay, March 2016
© Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content Pool
Kanoa Igarashi at Huntington Beach
© Marv Watson/Red Bull Content Pool
"A lot of the time in the gym these days I'm not even thinking about how it will benefit my surfing, but more how I know I'll feel better afterwards, and will have the mental clarity that comes with working out."
Talking to the Why I Run podcast, in 2023, he explained: “I also love running. I love that idea of no machinery. There's nothing foreign – it's you, your legs and your body, and you're pushing yourself forward.
“Running for me has so many different faces. It’s part of my training as a professional surfer. It's cardio. It’s staying in shape. But at the same time, it's kind of my getaway.
"Mentally, I just love going surfing. Whenever I'm stressed out about a contest or time on the road or whatever, there's nothing that centers me and brings me into the present moment more than going surfing. It's kinda crazy, because a lot of my anxiety and stress comes from surfing in the first place, but then surfing and being in the ocean is what cures everything too. It's a wild loop, but I love it."
4 min
Following – Kanoa Igarashi
Following takes you backstage with Kanoa Igarashi as the Hawaiian season comes alive
07
What's next for Kanoa Igarashi?
In 2024, the charmed life of Igarashi rolls on. He knows what he wants and has figured out what it's going to take to get there. "My ultimate goal as a surfer is to win a world title and become a gold medalist at the Games," says the man who picked up silver in Tokyo. "But then, just as important, my goal as a human is to look back on my career one day and be able to say that I travelled the world and was able to leave each place better than when I got there."
A bird's eye view of a Kanoa Igarashi open face carve
© Trevor Moran
Any advice for kids who want to do the same? "Create your own path! Don't follow in anyone else's footsteps because there are a thousand other kids who are trying to follow the people on tour. If you can create your own path and legacy, you're going to be a trailblazer for the next generation. That's how I feel like I did it, and how my generation did it. It's all about constant evolution, and creating your own path."
