Taj Burrow Wins the O’Neill Coldwater Classic, Santa Cruz

Taj Burrow just won the O’Neill Coldwater Classic at Steamer Lane, in Santa Cruz. His 13.10 combined total in the final beat Matt Wilkinson’s 12.70. “It feels incredible,” said Taj. “I really wanted to win another event this year. The final was hectic. I feel sad for Wilko but it was the same for me, it was the battle of the backups. We had the same score and it was next best wave wins. We both stacked it on a couple, we both just were in a fluster. Y’know, Wilko had that last wave and I think he fell on his last turn, and he would’ve got the score because his backside was going mad. But, I’ll take it. I fell on one too, both our backups were fall-offs. I’m sure the crowd was on the edge of their seats, I hope it was entertaining.”

At Shmoo’s suggestion that Taj hadn’t dropped a heat all event and was on fire, Taj downplayed it a little. “I don’t know, it just happens sometimes,” he said. “I was kinda in the zone, I didn’t really have a good heat the whole event but I still felt good. It’s just a tricky wave, and I guess the best thing I can say was just wave count. It just fell into place.”

And, as always, Taj attributed some of the win to his trainer, Johnny Gannon: “He just tells me to deep breathe and relax no matter what the situation is. Just good, basic stuff that I need to be reminded of. It’s great having him in my corner and I’m sure he’s gonna be pretty happy too.”