Griffin Colapinto’s thoughts and emotions are a lot like the waves he surfs: They rise and fall, sometimes flowing with him and sometimes threatening to crash into his mental state.
But the California native is feeling great mentally ahead of his first Olympic Games, where he’ll be one of four surfers on Team USA heading to Tahiti to compete against the best in the world.
“I’m doing really well,” Colapinto told Fox News Digital. “There’s been a lot of challenges that’s come at me this year, the last few years, every year, but I feel like I’ve done everything I can to get through them. It’s been really tough at the time.”
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Griffin Colapinto of the United States before surfing during the semi-finals of the VIVO Rio Pro at Saquarema in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 28, 2024. (Thiago Diz/World Surf League via Getty Images)
Regardless of the specialty, the job description of a professional athlete includes pressure.
For Colapinto, dealing with that pressure mentally can be tough, but he said there are times when he’s able to get in the water.
“Sometimes I go outside and I just go into a flow state,” he explained, “or sometimes I have all these thoughts popping into my head and I get overwhelmed. It’s basically a matter of noticing that and using it to help me become more focused.”
Leading up to the Olympics, Colapinto knows he needs to stay as mentally focused as possible, and finding that “flow state” quickly in the water will help him choose the right wave to ride in Tahiti, where the Olympic surfing competition takes place.
U.S. Olympic surfers Griffin Colapinto and John John Florence eye the waves in Tahiti during a WSL event
However, Colapinto’s recent trip to French Polynesia didn’t go so well, as he was early eliminated from a World Surf League event earlier this year.
“Last time I was in Tahiti I lost to a wild card in the second round, which is the most likely thing I’m going to lose in this tournament,” he said. “To lose to a wild card was really disappointing after all the preparation and hard work I’d put in for those waves for so long and it just didn’t pay off.”
“Things have gone wrong in the past, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot every time things went wrong. So I feel like everything that’s happened to me has led to this moment at the Olympics.”
Colapinto may have lost, but he learned how the Tahitian swell works and explained it.
American Griffin Colapinto surfs during the Outerknown Tahiti Pro in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia on August 18, 2022. (Damien Pourno/World Surf League)
“In the heat that I lost there, the swell had been building all day and I was between the first and second ledges,” he said. “It was like a weird game of ‘do I sit further inside or further outside?’ The surfer I was playing was an expert on the first ledge and most of the waves in that heat came in on the first ledge. Right after that heat ended the waves got bigger and then drifted over to the second ledge for the rest of the day.”
“I lost because I gave him a wave that I wasn’t sure would work, and it worked out and he scored. It’s those moments that decide everything.” [memory] Banks. I can go to the Olympics.”
Colapinto will try to refresh his memory next month, but it requires a good frame of mind, something he and fellow surfing buddy Crosby Colapinto have been working on improving together.
“Surfing and being a pro surfer is what got me really interested in mental health,” Colapinto says. “When you’re chasing a dream, chasing something really challenging, you’re going to have tough moments along the way. And along the way, I started journaling, meditating, reading books. Ultimately, I kind of created a little system of tools to help me on my journey, and keeping a journal was really great.”
Colapinto’s experience with mental health led her to apply to be one of 20 athletes selected for an Athletes for Good grant, a joint initiative between Procter & Gamble, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee that provides recipient athletes with $24,000 each to support their advocacy efforts.
American Griffin Colapinto before competing in the round of 16 at the VIVO Rio Pro in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 27, 2024. (Thiago Diz/World Surf League via Getty Images)
Colapinto’s chosen charity The organization was To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit dedicated to giving hope and finding help to people struggling with mental health, addiction and other issues.
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“We are very lucky to be in the position we are in and we have a great life,” Colapinto said when asked how important this initiative is to him. “The best thing we can do is spread the word about this to those around us and those who look up to us. Lead by example and be the best people you can be. Don’t be afraid to share secrets that we’ve learned along the way because we’re all going through similar challenges and being able to empathize with each other helps a lot.”
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