Speed Dating with Courtney Taylor Conlogue

Courtney Conlogue, Santa Ana, California is in her first year on the female Wqs. And what an entry, she actually ranks at the first place of the Us World Qualifying Series. Her home break is Huntington Beach, training on a DSC program...That reminds me a certain Brett Simpson (usa) who has just joined the Dream Tour.

Courtney is the uge Combo of beauty, perfect body, and surfing talent. Moreover she is involved with community, and she is a real artist passioned by drawing and photo shoots. I caught her during the Swatch Pro Girls in France where she won the Pro Junior vs Coco Ho, and was defeated on main event quarter final by...Steph Gilmore.

Courtney Taylor Conlogue is about to be " THE " big deal of the Us delegation.

Freaksurf Mag : What an impressive Swatch Pro Girls, tell me about this week.

Courtney Conlogue : Getting to France for the Swatch Pro event was an adventure!  Our flights were canceled due to the volcanic ash and we ended up choosing to make the drive from Portugal. 

I was able to see a lot of Portugal, Spain and France along the way. We don’t have the history back home in North America that I see in Europe.  

That has been fun for me to see. The weather and waves haven’t been the best but either way it’s been good. 

I’ve met so many people and saw many new places.

The contest directors and judges were really good at this event. It made for a great competition. 

I did 2 photo shoots while in France and enjoyed working with all of them. I’m looking forward to the event next year!

FSM : You've been very patient and confident on your junior final, amazing win in the last minutes!

Courtney Conlogue : The conditions were challenging for much of the event.  I knew it would come down to my focus, patients, and physical conditioning.  I was happy with the win.

Quarter final on the main event, where only Steph stopped you!

It was a good run for me.  Steph has a lot of talent and experience on her side. 

I’m enjoying every event and learning a lot this year.  It’s my first year doing the full WQS calendar. This is my first year competing in all the 6 star WQS events.

A few words on the event site and the Swatch pro organization?

The event was one of the best run events that I’ve competed in.

It was definitely run like a 6 star event and the competitors were well taken care of.  The weather wasn’t good for most of the time so that made it interesting.  

They had great smoothies, coffee and tea, good food for breakfast and lunch, comfortable competitor areas to hang out in, internet with computers, and great staff working the whole event.  Very professional!!  

Was it important to have Steph Gilmore on the event site during the Pro Junior ?

It’s always great to have WCT women at the events if they have the time.  She is definitely a champion and nice to have around.

Let's talk about you, you seem to have the most athletic body on tour for far, is that important to you and do you make specific training?

I have my cross-training routines that I do to keep it interesting.  I train in a DSC program with great trainers too. 

I like being in shape and it definitely helped at this event with the crazy conditions we had in the line-up. 

I like to be prepared for the ocean and being in shape helps a lot.  I have my sights on big wave goals too and I need to be in shape for that.

You're very nice too, and there were lots of Photo shoots with the girls this week, is your image important for you and are you interested in fashion ?

Well thank you!!! 

I really enjoy working with photographers and doing photo shoots. 

It’s always a lot of fun and I have a great time.  I want to be a positive role model and promote women of surf around the world so yes my image is important to me.  I love getting dressed up for special occasions and I want my clothing to reflect my personality. 

I’m pretty down to earth and casual most of the time. I love wearing comfortable clothes too.

It's sexy time with the girls those time with Alana Blanchard or Anastasia Ashley, what's your opinion, on the sexy tour? 

Probably no comment would be best.

I know you're passionated by drawing, can we see your art !

I love to express myself with my art.  I’ve been exploring all types of artwork through my school and it’s been really cool. 

I enjoy working with acrylics and oils.  This past year I’ve been working with ceramics too.  I plan to keep working on my art.

You're involved in SurfAid International it's rare for such a young girl ..

It’s important to get involved with community and global issues.

I want to be a global citizen and encourage others to do the same. 

Being involved with SurfAid has given me that opportunity to help others and bring awareness to people around me.

SurfAid is an incredible organization and they do so much good for people around the world.  Here’s the website:  http://www.surfaidinternational.org/ 

A word on France and the product of the week for the girls called NUTELLA!

I love France!! 

I really enjoyed all the people that I met on this trip.  The country is beautiful. The surf culture is definitely supported and everyone I met was so nice and welcoming. 

I was able to visit Bayonne and Biarritz and took a lot of photos.I loved the architecture. I had never had Nutella before this event. 

I ate 1 spoon full to see what the excitement was all about.  I guess it’s an acquired taste! 

What's your goal for this year and your future in surfing?

Continue to compete in the WQS events, get on some film and photo surf trips, keep training and develop my surfing, work with my art and school, and just keep enjoying all the moments.  

Interview : Johann Mouchel / Freaksurf Mag