Johnson searches for wave of opportunity

Nick Johnson was there everyday. He watched as each surfer in the U.S. Open of Surfing took their turn competing, doing their best to ride the Huntington Beach waves. It pained him to watch others compete in an event in which he was not allowed to participate. But his love of surfing drew him to the shore.

“It was frustrating watching the events, going down there and I couldn’t be a part of it,” said Johnson, 21.

Next year Johnson, a Newport Harbor High graduate, plans to attend the U.S. Open as a competitor, not a spectator.

He will travel to the frigid East Coast waters and surf small waves in competitions to build up points. And when he is not competing he will scour the coastlines around Newport Beach at all times of the day in search of waves on which to hone his craft and passion.

“Surfing feels natural to me,” said Johnson, who is a regional surfing professional for O’Neill. “I feel I have a lot of drive and motivation to succeed.”

Because of a recent change, this will be the first year Johnson has focused on building points to enter larger events.

“This year, I have to grind it out,” Johnson said.

But that is fine by him. Johnson has been surfing since he was 11 years old and plans to do so for a lot longer. It started when his father and friends convinced him to give it a try. He did and, before he knew it, he took his first spill.

“My board went up in the air and cracked me in the head,” Johnson recalled. “It’s not what I expected. I wanted to ride waves, not get beat up by my board.”

A few stitches were needed and Johnson switched to riding a bodyboard. But all it took was some goading from his friends and he was back on the surfboard.

“It takes a while,” Johnson said. “You can’t hop in the water and expect to stand up right away. I just had a love for it. It’s addictive for me. I always want to surf.”

Johnson, who has surfed waves more than 20-feet high, understands the first rule is to respect the ocean.

“It’s definitely scary surfing big waves,” said Johnson, who like all surfers has spent unwanted time under the water. “You just have to be calm. You have to understand you can’t overpower the ocean.”

Johnson lives in Newport Beach a block away from the ocean and is constantly checking the temperamental conditions in search of waves to surf. “It’s a circus out there,” said Johnson, who has been told by more experienced surfers that 10 years ago when the beaches were crowded, physical confrontations usually ensued when a wave was at stake. “In a couple of months it will be empty.”

And when there is scarcely a body in the ocean Johnson will be out there, surfing one-foot high waves if he has to.

“You can go out to the ocean and just tune everything out,” Johnson said. “It can get your mind off anything.”

Johnson said he plans on going to school in the future, but, for now, he is enjoying what he is doing.

“The lifestyle is not bad. I can’t complain,” Johnson said with a laugh. “A lot of my friends are surfing more for fun, focusing on school. I definitely want to college. I’m just going to ride surfing for a little bit.”

For Johnson, he hopes that ride leads straight to the 2007 U.S. Open.