He follows the Sun
Island teenager strives for surfing excellence
by Steve Sheppard
Some Nantucketers opt to spend their high school years away at boarding school, but for sixteen year-old John Whelden it’s the board that matters. His measures 5 feet 9 inches, and with it he’s riding the wave of his dreams.

For Nantucketer John Whelden surf’s up, and school’s in session in Southern California.

A high school junior, and son of Larry and Beth Whelden, island native John began classes at Nantucket High School this year, but his athletic ambitions just couldn’t be met here — he needed to find a school where he could fulfill his passion and realize his ambition to surf at the highest level.

Although the surf can be pretty good on the island’s south shore, Whelden’s proficiency is such that he couldn’t further improve his skills in Nantucket’s inconsistent surf. Besides, he said, “if you’re lucky, you get to surf here maybe once a week in the winter.” Like a skier whose talents take him to more challenging peaks, Whelden was ready to move beyond the level of surfing that Nantucket could give him. Last year, for example, he took advantage of an educational exchange program and spent six months in New Zealand, where “I surfed as much as I could — that was half the reason I went there.” This year he knew he needed to be more than an exchange student; he wanted to learn his sport from a master.

So, he surfed the Web. He discovered that southern California, with its surfing tradition and high school surf teams, was the place to be. He sent off several e-mails to high school surf coaches and received a response from one of them, Andy Verdone, at Huntington Beach High School.

“I didn’t want to go to boarding school,” Whelden explained, “I wanted to go to public school. I didn’t know anything about any California schools, but I knew I had to surf, that’s what I want to do.”

When Verdone realized Whelden was serious about transferring from Nantucket, he talked to a family he knew whose son surfed on the team. The McCrystals agreed to take him in, and after a visit to California with his mother, Whelden enrolled at Huntington Beach High in November.

“I had no idea if it would work out or not,” Whelden said. “I moved out there two-and-a-half weeks after talking to Andy Verdone on the Internet.”

He was apprehensive about being on his own, but what Whelden discovered was a surfer’s paradise. He found, too, that the skills he’d first learned on Nantucket’s south shore served him well. “When I first got there, they thought I fit right in,” he said. “They thought I’d moved from a different town in California.”

With surfing offered as a class at Huntington Beach High, Whelden now has the chance to surf every morning, and he’s become a proud member of the high school team. He’s also among some of the best surfers in the country, one of them being his new housemate. “The McCrystals have three kids of their own. The oldest son, Quinn, is one of the top kids on the team; he’s pretty much a professional surfer,” he notes. “It’s pretty intimidating, but it’s good for me to be in that environment. The west coast is completely different; the talent level’s so high.”

The waves at Huntington Beach, San Clemente, Laguna and Newport are also decidedly different from those of his island home. “In California, it’s a real wave,” he says. “It’s a lot better, more consistent.”

Whelden first caught the surfing bug when he was twelve years old and accompanied his friend, Danny Woodruff, on trips to Nobadeer Beach. “Danny’s a really good surfer,” he said. “I don’t know, I guess I got hooked.”

His brothers Alex and Drew also surf, but don’t have the same drive for the sport as John. “My brothers do it here and there. Alex goes on a surfing trip every year,” he says. “I want to go as far as I can.”

His surfing coach is helping him do just that. Whelden knows that the lessons he’s learning from Verdone, combined with the ability to surf regularly, are what he needs to test his abilities and grow.

He came home for Christmas, but was soon off on a trip with his parents to Ventura, Calif. before school resumes next week. “I don’t want to stay out of the water too long,” he says.

He is grateful, too, for his parents’ understanding and support. “If it weren’t for my parents, I’d definitely not be able to do this. I think of the opportunities I’ve had, and I’ve been lucky enough to take them,” he said.

Being far from home and getting used to a new school with 3,500 students are heady challenges indeed, but Whelden is sincere in his quest. “It’s going to be a long road,” he admits. “But it’s everything I thought it would be.”

He has also gained new awareness for the island that nurtured him. “It’s made me appreciate what I have here (on Nantucket),” he said. “I miss all the people out here who mean something to me.”

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