SANTA CRUZ — When professional surfer Nat Young isn’t competing at World Surf League competitions around the world, it’s not uncommon to see him shredding at Steamer Lane, his heralded hometown break.
What is uncommon is to see him doing so while wearing a bikini top and Speedo brief swimsuit, especially during the dead of winter. But that’s the price he had to pay Saturday for finishing in last place in a head-to-head, fantasy football league with several other Santa Cruz surf buddies.
Actually, Young took last in two leagues this year. The penalty in the other league was to go surfing in board shorts, so he paid the piper in one fell swoop on a chilly afternoon at the Lane.
Young takes a quick ocean plunge every now and again, but when he surfs, regardless of the season, he’ll wear a wetsuit. No such luck this time.
The temperature and water temperature were both in the mid-50s. And then there was the wind-chill factor.
“It wasn’t too bad, at first,” Young said. “It was a little shocking. But I was in the water for 50 minutes. The last 20 to 30 minutes, I was frozen. I was shaking. I was so cold. I haven’t been that cold in a long time.”
As cold as he was, he was also a little embarrassed.
In total, Young caught three waves, two on his shortboard and one on a gun out at Middle Peak. Each time, he got out at the stairs, ran to the point, past dozens of giggling onlookers, hopped the railing at the lighthouse, and re-entered the water.
“It was pretty funny,” said Santa Cruz’s Sam Coffey, a fellow WSL competitor who was also surfing Saturday afternoon, with the luxury of wearing a wetsuit. “He kinda took it like a champ. … All your friends come down and are watching, filming, so they can post on Instagram. It’s pretty entertaining.”
Young said he borrowed his wife Tia’s bikini top. As expected, he needed help putting it on.
“It was a tight fit,” Coffey said.
According to the surfers’ rules for the fantasy league, at least four team managers need to witness the last-place finisher paying his dues. Young told his fantasy league foes that he’d let them know when and where he planned to serve his penalty. He didn’t want to give them too much advance notice to where they had time to invite an extra large crowd.
That said, he made sure he served his time.
“I could’ve done it on a Monday morning,” the former Championship Tour surfer said. “I tried to be low-key about it. It was a bigger production than I thought.”
One league member shot video of Young surfing in his wife’s bikini and Young posted it on Instagram. The highlight reel received more than 3,000 views the first day it was posted.
Young has taken first in the league twice, including last year, when Santa Cruz’s Ben Coffey took last. The league also includes Shaun Burns and Alessandro “Alo” Slebir, who made headlines nationwide after he rode what is being estimated as a 100-foot wave at Mavericks on Dec. 23, among others. Eric Shimokawa prevailed as champion this season.
Young said he tried his best to win. He had three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and star receiver Tyreek Hill on his team.
“We get pretty into it,” Young said. “I thought I had a good team. … I’d like to think I know what I’d doing.”
He said he often set his alarm for 5 a.m. to get a jump on the waiver wire before heading to work out.
He did the same while at WSL competitions in different time zones, where he had a 6- to 8-hour advantage.
As prepared as he was, it just wasn’t his year. But, that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.