Griffin Colapinto recalls 'crazy' experience of his brother Crosby and himself making the semifinals in Portugal

As the World Surf League season begins to heat up, it seems as if there are no surfers having more fun on tour than Griffin and Crosby Colapinto. These two brothers are scorching up the WSL rankings and after a great showing by both in Portugal, they could find themselves at one and two with a few more great rides in Australia. For the past few years, Griffin Colapinoto has been making himself known in the WSL rankings. Last year he finished as the number three surfer in the world, while Crosby put in the work to secure his spot on tour. Now these brothers are dominating the competition and having the best time doing it.

Griffin Colapinto sat down with Fansided right before the WSL CT kicked off its Australian leg at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Colapinto spoke about his brother, his win in Portugal, the Olympics, and more.

Colapinto started off the year with back-to-back ninth-place finishes in Hawaii to begin the year. Heading into the third stop on the Championship Tour in Portugal, mother nature was a factor. In surfing the competition window is often two weeks long and the event can run the best three or four days in that window. The weather and waves in Portugal were not cooperating at first and Final's Day ran on the last day of the window. Having so many days off can be tough on a surfer's mind and motivation but Colapinto was able to stay clear-headed and calm thanks to his support crew.

"It was a crazy event, so on and off, it took the full, I think it was like 14 days of competition, " he said. "The whole waiting period to finish the event all the way to the last three hours of the event. It took a lot of like, being patient, waiting for the contest to run. Sometimes those are the hardest events to win because the on-and-off can be a challenge. But I felt like I had a really good crew around me, my brother was there, my coach, and my filmer. We have just such a good energy that it keeps all the lay days really fun and you don't really think about the contest."

In years past Griffin had his brother Crosby with him as support, but this is the first year both brothers are in the water looking to win precious points to avoid the midseason cut. Coming into the last day of competition, fans were rooting for a brother-on-brother final on the beach at Supertubos. Both of them made the semifinals but it was only Griffin who made it through to the final and ultimately won the contest. The experience was one that both brothers will cherish but are looking to repeat again.

"That was crazy, that day was insane because we started off with the quarters in the morning and we both made it and then they called the event off for like two or three hours," he said. "We had that little downtown to just enjoy the fact that we're both in the semis. That was just such a rad thing to be able to relish in that and, then went back down. I ended up winning. So it's kind of like, the only thing that could have got better is if Crosby made the final too but it is close to as good as it gets."

Colapinto will continue on the WSL Tour until the break this summer for the 2024 Olympic Games. He qualified for the games after being the highest-ranked American surfer in 2023. Colapinto is looking forward to representing his country. He plans to get a little practice in Tahiti before the Olympics begin in July. Until then, he and Crosby will look to continue surfing and having fun on tour.