Cormac ‘Cove’ O’Brien gets a push from dad
by Mike Purpus
Last month, Cormac Cove O’Brien won the Open Men’s Longboard division at the South Bay Boardriders Surf contest at Torrance Beach. What made the win notable is that O’Brien is a 5-foot-2, 95 pound Parras Middle School seventh grader. Following his men’s longboard victory, he won the groms (12 and under) shortboard competition.
Cormac’s dad Shawn, the South Bay’s best ’60s style longboarder, started shoving Cormac into waves at Santa Barbara’s Rincon when he was 8 years old.
“I was surfing inside with the rest of the groms. They call that spot The Cove. I was riding this crudely shaped 7-foot-6 board my dad made. He would shove me into these perfect rights. I am a goofy footer, (right foot forward), but learned how to switch stance in a hurry so I could face the wave. My dad made me take swim lessons when I was just six months old.”
Cormac’s first surf contest was the Hermosa Beach Hotdogger. Will Allen and I won The Best Tandem ride,” he said. He was 9.
The following year, he won the Hotdogger Super Dog Division and $500. His dad let him use the money to buy a new surfboard.
Cormac and his dad are members of the Bay Cities Surf Club, which competes in Surf Club Coalition contests, from San Miguel, Mexico to Santa Cruz, California.
He recently won the 14-and-under division at The Back to the Reef Surf Contest at Cardiff Reef in San Diego.
He and his family have have traveled all over Baja California
“We got our best waves at Scorpion Bay. It’s a perfect right point like Rincon only longer. It’s in the middle of Baja with bad roads so it is not crowded,” he said. It’s his favorite wave, he said.
In Hawaii he surfed the South Shore.
“I became friends with a lot of the big locals. They kind of took me under their wing and helped me get a lot of good waves,” he said.
Cormac’s local break is Knob Hill, where he and his dad surf with other standout longboarders, including Hudson Ritchie, Stuart Wieten, Jordan Weintraub, Christina Grenke, Luis Marquez, Jackson Adams and Coco Buffagni.
“You never know what you are going to get, but there is always something to ride. We have fun no matter what it’s like,” he said. In addition to his dad, his surf heroes are Ritchie, Alex Knost, Michael February, and Tyler Hatzikin.
Cormac sponsors include Flex Seal and board makers Dan Cobley, and Adam Davenport.
When dad gives him the okay, Cormac wants go to Bali to ride its perfect lefts, and then to prove himself on Hawaii’s North Shore.
It’s not hard for his dad to keep an eye on his son’s activities. Dad’s a substitute teacher at Parras.
Last week Cormac walked into English class to find dad behind the teacher’s desk.
“All my friends were freaking out, asking me what the deal was. I was just looking for a place to hide,” he said. ER