“It’s been a long couple of years making the tour, then falling off, then getting back on,” says Gabe Kling in a recent interview with DailyStoke.com. Indeed, if there ever was a comeback kid, Kling is it.
On the tour in 2007.
Off the tour for 2008 (and back to the drawing board.)
On the tour again in 2009.
Here’s how Gabe Kling got from 2007 to 2009.
In 2006, Kling qualified for the 2007 ASP World Tour. For any surfer, it’s the big leagues, and a lot of sweat went into qualifying, having gone through an entire season on the WQS. Says Kling of the thrill of qualifying: “Nothing is as great as the first time you qualify.” Picture friends, family, girls and parties and the feeling that you’ve made it.
Fast forward to the 2007 ASP World Tour, however, where Kling suffered the freshman learning curve. He finished towards the back of the pack, failing to re-qualify for 2008. “You learn so much on tour. I made new mistakes every contest, so each contest was a learning experience,” he says. He obviously didn’t give up, returning to the grind of travel on the WQS in 2008 – but even his 2008 WQS year wasn’t easy.
Indeed, Kling’s comeback was plagued with injury and illness that threatened to derail his plans of re-qualifying for the ASP World Tour in 2009. He contracted viral pneumonia and was knocked out for two or more months. He then charged back with expectations of picking up and fighting for points. As if pneumonia wasn’t enough, Kling was sidelined again when he hurt his knee in the Maldives. The illness and injury put him out of five major events.
Kling just could not get a break from Neptune.
Kling recovered to give a strong showing in the US Open in July, where he came in second in his semifinal heat to Nathaniel Curran, the event winner and current WQS leader. Kling then went on to the tour’s European leg but still wasn’t connecting. Says Kling: “I did terrible in Europe. I left Europe feeling pretty down.”
Fortunately for Kling, the 2008 WQS had a few more big results on offer, and Gabe went on a roll. “It’s pretty tough to keep getting results and pretty easy to get dragged down if you start losing,” he says. In the end, Kling delivered the goods. His late year push has him sitting with a comfortable seed on the 2009 ASP World Tour, with his only remaining goal for 2008 being to do well in Hawaii, adding gravy on his World Tour qualification. With a very respectable 17th place in the Reef Hawaiian Pro, Kling has locked a spot.
It came with a price, however. At the time of our interview, and despite missing five events, Kling has already completed 22 contests in 2008. Kling says the only real problem with life on the WQS is that the events are literally nonstop. Gabe finds very little time to relax at home or travel for free surfs. In the few, fleeting moments when Kling wasn’t traveling for contests this year, he could be found hanging out in California, where he was a regular fixture at Oceanside and Lowers. California has become a second home for him. Of course the pride of north Florida loves his Florida roots (and has the accent to prove it!). Kling gets back to town a lot more than some of his fellow Floridian surfers, but laments the right coast’s lack of regular swell: “Sometimes I head back to Florida, but the waves aren’t all that consistent,” he says. But it’s that inconsistency that makes Floridians so good on tour. Says Kling: “The Floridians (and the Brazilians) are used to surfing junk. They feel right at home on the WQS!”
But he’s thankful for his life as a surfer, saying that even with the constant travel, life on the WQS is as not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. With locations changing up a bit year after year, Gabe and the rest of the boys slugging it out lucked out on fun waves at a number of spots this year. Good waves always make for a better travel experience, and the quality they stumbled upon this season made many of the events more memorable than the 2007 Dream Tour events, Kling says. Traveling to the events this year with good friends Brian Toth and Sean Burrell (and the year before with Ben Bourgeois) lightened the moments. Slugging it out on tour and traversing the globe with friends is a lot easier than going it alone. Kling admits that there are some pretty wild spots on tour (Brazil, France and a few other secret spots) where the party scene and the girls can be addictive, he says the lifestyle can quickly spiral out of control. He opted for a more reserved and focused existence on the 2008 WQS, in order to make sure he re-qualified for the World Tour.
Looking forward to 2009
What should we expect from Kling in 2009? “I’ll do a lot of things differently this year. You have to surf a lot harder and better to beat the guys on the World Tour than you do on the WQS,” he says.
He and a few of his fellow World Tour alumni will be making the transition back to the big leagues this year. Kling and Josh Kerr (among others) all incredibly stoked to be heading back. Should surfers getting bumped from the World Tour this year be worried? To hear Kling tell it, if you can get there once, you can do it again. He’ll have a lot of competition.
Gabe sees a lot of the young guys as the next wave of surfing. His return to the WQS has given him insight into the talents of the up-an-comers: “I see a lot of ridiculously talented guys coming out of Hawaii and Australia. Some of them are still surfing the Junior’s contests, particularly in Australia, and haven’t even made a crack at the WQS yet. Some of the next big deals will be guys like Dusty Payne and Yadin Nicol of Australia, who is on the cusp of qualifying for the 2009 World Tour in his first year on the WQS.” Kling also points out the talented crop of young Europeans who are working their way to the top of the WQS. He’s excited about guys like Tim Boal and Marlon Lipke who are likely to be his current competitors on next years World Tour.
Gabe is excited to get the chance to surf with Kelly and the gang again next year. He’s also really looking forward to surfing with Dane Reynolds next year, citing his surfing as “really inspirational and exciting to watch.” Of the guys already on the World Tour, Gabe lists Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning among his favorite surfers. “Kelly is everyone’s favorite. Growing up as I did in Florida made his surfing that much more inspiring.” So does Gabe ever get to hang with his favorite fellow Floridian on tour? “You never really see Kelly. He shows up for his heats at the last minute, wins the contest, then disappears again,” Kling laughs.
Gabe’s goal for 2009 is simple: “To do better in contests!”, he laughs. He’s also to enjoy the more relaxed life of being one of the few who has qualified for the ASP World Tour. If his results in his abridged WQS season are any indication of his comeback, DailyStoke.com believes Kling will find himself in much better standing on the 2009 ASP World Tour.
“I’m really stoked to get a second chance on it. Missing out in the rankings is so tough,” says Kling.
We all look forward to seeing you back in the big leagues, Gabe.
Photos of Gabe Kling from the North Shore courtesy of Ryan Miller Photography.
Related posts:
- Feature interview with Tom Curren – DailyStoke.com
- ASP World Tour update with Rabbit Bartholomew – Feature Interview with DailyStoke.com
- Feature Interview with Rabbit Bartholomew – Surfing Warrior – DailyStoke.com
- The Life of a Pro Surfing Agent – an interview with Pro Surfing Management founder Greg Renfroe
- Kelly Slater and the 2008 ASP World Tour – a feature interview
