INTERVIEW: Courtney Conlogue

I caught up with Billabong surf pro and superstar in the making Courtney Conlogue in France, ahead of her final world tour stop back home in CA. As well as being the lovliest girl on the tour she's also the most exciting rookie in the game when it comes to taking on the waves...

Courtney - you're currently lying 5th in the world tour rankings... what would it mean to you to get a podium spot on the tour?

To get to the podium at any spot on the world tour is special. I mean my first one this year at Dee Why (Beachley Classic – Australia) was monumental for me, just that whole experience. I didn’t know what that had felt like until getting there and you don’t know exactly what you’ll feel and how your mindset will be when you’re up there at the podium. I think for anyone who gets there then that moment is so special even if you’ve had it so many times, it’s always a new experience.

You're pretty good friends with the other girls on tour, what's it like competing against your mates?

It’s definitely different competing head-to-head with friends, but I think when you’re in the water you just have that mindset of competition and when you come back to the beach you’re friends again... it’s business in the water and fun on the beach! With our amateur and junior careers you kinda learn how to separate it. And it does get a little tough in those years but I feel like when it gets to this point it’s pretty easy, you put the jersey on, get in your zone and do the job and then you come in and you’re all laughing at the end and celebrating.

How do you prepare for the world tour?

I do a lot of cross-training and just a lot of physical conditioning so my body’s not something that holds me back when I get in the water. There’s also a lot of training in the water and just getting the water time. It’s just a mixture of everything and I thing everyone has their own little routine, but mines a little fitness, a little mental and just not overbearing too much stress into the water.

You used to be a dancer and a bit of a track and field star... but how other action sports like skating and snowboarding?

I used to do quite a bit of skateboarding but I was never insanely good at it so I can’t claim that I able to do crazy airs or any of that! I definitely love doing skateboarding but i’ve had a few crazy road rashes from downhill skating so I was just like you know what, it probably won’t be good if I injure myself skating and I was out of surfing because of it. So I still kinda skate around the neighborhood a bit but not as crazy as I used to.

Well water’s definitely a softer landing!

Yeah water’s a lot softer! I mean you have the reef breaks and the crazy conditions sometimes but most of the time it’s beach break stuff so you hit sand and it’s no big deal.

At your last event, the Roxy Pro in France, there was lots of lay days; what do you usually get up to on a lay day?

Normally I love to just cruise around where I am and if I’m in France there’s always somewhere you can go to, with the cool little villages and towns and trying the cheese and all the little pastries... I always feel like I end up eating so many little tapas everywhere and hor d’oeuvres! Today I went to Bayonne because my brother’s never been to France and he’s been studying it for three years so I thought I’d show him a little bit of France!

Look out for Courtney competing in The Nike US Open Of Surfing at her home break of Huntington Beach, California this weekend!