Andy Irons Sounds Off

The surfing world has been buzzing about Andy Irons since he pulled out of the Quiksilver Pro France last month during the second round.  Immediately after, he and his brother Bruce skipped the Billabong Pro in Spain (and AI’s skipping Brazil, too).

Irons, 30, is a three-time ASP World Champion and is definitely one of the top surfers of all time, but something’s been off recently and Irons opens up about that, his brother’s retirement from competitive surfing and just about everything else in a new Surfline interview.

Here are a few highlights, but do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

SURFLINE: Why did you no-show for your heat in France?
ANDY IRONS: It was a decision I made after the first heat I paddled out in, the day before, and made a complete fool out of myself. I just wasn’t into it, and I felt like I was going to have a crazy meltdown if I stayed and tried to fake it any longer. It’s hard to explain, but it goes all the way back to J-Bay, where I was freezing cold, miserable, and I truly wanted to lose that heat to Granger [Larsen], and just get the hell out of there. I even gave him a wave hoping he would get the score. Ever since then, it’s like every time I put a jersey on I am slamming my head into a brick wall, and causing myself even more problems with my sponsors, fans, judges, and all these internet bloggers or whatever you call ’em. What people don’t understand is that I am just as confused as they are.

Are you going to the next ASP event, in Brazil?
No Brazil for me! I am in California right now just trying to get my mind right, and taking a break from surfing all together. Been going out to dinner, movies, and I even started working with a trainer. I had a meeting with Billabong the other day, and they are being super cool about this whole deal. They have seen me struggle, and knew from J-Bay that I have been close to jumping off a building at every event since then. They actually gave me the option to skip Europe all together, but I couldn’t wrap my head around skipping an event I have had so much success at [The Quiksilver Pro France]. So, I went, and was right back at LAX within like 4 or 5 days I think. Pretty heavy few days. Sorry Lyndie!

Any plans yet for the 2009 ASP season?
I don’t know. Is there such thing as having a plan with no plans at all?

Has your brother’s decision to retire from full-time ASP competition affected your perspective on the tour?
Everyone keeps asking me that. I started off saying no, but thinking about getting stuck somewhere like Bells while Bruce is getting perfect waves somewhere is going to drive me crazy. So I guess yeah… It has affected me.

Check out the full article over at Surfline.