Caity And Timo Aren’t The Only Talent Breaking Out Of Oside’s Orbit

“Caity and I were always sparring partners growing up,” Lucas said. “Our coaches judged us on the same scale in practice sessions, there were no girl or boy divisions. She pushed me hard.”

If you’re reading this and live outside of San Diego County, it’s possible you haven’t heard of Lucas Owston yet. You should soon.

Lucas is a 19-year-old surfer from Oceanside, California — home to the Simmers, Stab‘s U.S. office, steady surfable waves, and the last un-gentrified bits of land west of the 5 in all of San Diego (not for long, sadly).

Lucas is an interesting guy. He’s rebuilding a 1986 Ford Ranger in his garage, he’s “wicked smart and has been talking like a 30-year-old since he was 12” according to a friend, and he’s taken a reverse path relative to other kids his age — focusing on turns instead of airs for his entire career thus far.

“I gotta learn how to do an air,” Lucas laughed. “I honestly think you can win a World Title without doing one single air all season — all the waves are long rights or barreling lefts — but you can’t qualify for the CT without airs. Most of the waves on the Challenger Series are air waves.”

Speaking of the Challenger Series, Lucas was one spot away from qualifying for the CS last year, mounting a formidable QS campaign despite being younger than most of his competitors.

“My favorite surfers are rail surfers — Jordy Smith, Taylor Knox, Bruce and Andy Irons — and here in Southern California, our only real option to learn surfing like that is to surf Lowers,” said Lucas. “Yeah, the wave is soft, but it’s so easy to get better at surfing there, you can do the same turn 50 times in a day and try to make it better each time.”

Judging by the 2-minute clip above alone, Lucas could be Ethan Ewing’s rail rival in a couple years’ time. He’s certainly surfing the A-frame better than some of the CTers back in June.

Though, he may need to reluctantly flick a few reverses to get there.