Watch: San Clemente’s Secret Power Maven Takes On Indo

Two weeks ago, at Stab High, the surfing world was introduced to Kevin Schulz, San Clemente’s secret aerial savant. 

Not only did Kevin win $10k for his Freak Peak loop, but he also placed second overall in the event, finishing just a couple points behind the odds-on favorite, Christopher ‘Chippa’ Wilson. 

Many surf fans would have to be wondering, where the hell did Kev come from? San Clemente is one of the most publicized regions in the surfing world, yet somehow, Mr. Schulz missed the industry/mag train ridden to six-figure contracts by Kolohe, Luke Davis, Ian Crane, and more recently, Griffin and Crosby Colapinto, Jett Schilling, et al. 

The truth is, Kev started surfing late (at age 11) and because of that, never became quite as tight with the local surf gang, who’d been surfing Lowers and T-Street together since the single digits. As a result, Kevin didn’t receive the same invites and exposure of his equally-talented peers, resulting in his relative obscurity (until now, of course!).

We relayed all of the above as a way of introducing 18-year-old Cole Houshmand, San Clemente’s other robustly talented, relatively unknown goofy-footer.

Like Kevin, Cole’s got airs, but what we really like about his game is the unique style and power. Not since Dane G has San Clemente had a true power maven, and we have the feeling that in a couple years, after Cole gains a bit of that man-strength, he could fill Dane’s sasquatch slippers without a problem. 

Watch how Cole handled Indo (where, it should be noted, Mr. Houshmand had a semifinal finish at the Krui QS 3,000—an event so stacked that even Gabriel Medina lost in the quarters) above, and tell us you don’t love the way he moves.