Hawaiian surfers take both ASP Rookie of the Year awards
Hawaiians have swept this year's ASP World Tour Rookie of the Year awards with Kekoa Bacalso taking the 2009 ASP World Tour honor and Coco Ho claiming the ASP Women’s World Tour distinction.
“I’m super stoked to win this award,” Bacalso said in a press release. “My main goal coming into this season was to finish within the Top 27, so to claim the Rookie of the Year award is a bonus and I wasn’t expecting it."
Bacalso, 24, finished 18th in the ASP World rankings, with his best result this season at the second of 10 World Tour events -- the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, Australia -- where he took fifth.
18-year-old Ho, who finished No. 4 on the ASP Women’s World Tour this year, was the highest-rated rookie and the only rookie-class surfer to win an event this year when she claimed top spot at the Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal.
“This is the best award to win,” Ho said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s great to have won it with five really strong rookies on tour last year. They pushed me really hard and the Rookie of the Year award means a lot to me.”
-- Kelly Burgess
Photo: Hawaii's Coco Ho, ASP Women's World Tour 2009 Rookie of the Year, at a pro surfing event last year. Credit: Kirstin Scholtz /ASP
