A Hall of Famer at 21? Even Moore was a bit surprised

As a 14-year-old on the way to surfing competitions at Huntington Beach, Calif., Carissa Moore would pause and inspect with awe the hand imprints of the legendary surfers pressed into the concrete along Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

There, under the gaze of the bronze statue of Duke Kahanamoku, she admired the Surfers’ Hall of Fame tributes to Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Lisa Andersen. …

Someday, she dared to dream, there might even be a place for her handprints in the "Times Square" of surfing near the Huntington Beach pier.

Never, however, did she imagine it would come before her 22nd birthday.

When she got the invitation for the Surfers’ Hall of fame induction, Moore said, "My first thought was, ‘wow!’ I was really flattered. Then, I thought, ‘isn’t this kinda soon? I mean, I’ve only won two world championships.’"

Success, indeed, has come in a blur for the 21-year-old Punahou School graduate and this summer is a dizzying reminder of just how much and how fast.

In the space of two months before she turns 22 in August, Moore will debut a song ("Love Down on You" with Kevin Okimoto) on iTunes Monday, attend the ESPYS as a finalist for "best female action sports athlete," be inducted into the Hall of Fame and, oh, yes, defend her U.S. Open Championship of Surfing title in Huntington Beach.

All of this wrapped around charity and sponsors’ events here, in Bali, New York and Memphis.

"This is my busiest year yet," said Moore, running late for a morning surf session at Kewalos with sister Kayla as she chases her third world title in four years. "I’m trying to embrace it all and not get too stressed out. I just have to learn how to pace myself."

Pausing to take pictures with beseeching young fans and exchange waves with other surfers, she will tell you that for all the bright lights, accolades and rubbing shoulders with fellow celebrities, the biggest joy is "still getting in the water. It is what I love."

When she can do it at a youth clinic, as she did on Molokai recently, while giving instructions to several dozen novices at International Surfing Day off New York or working with young hospital patients, "that’s even more fun and meaningful."

Sometimes, when she feels overwhelmed — "or when I feel like complaining about all the media stuff," Moore said she has to remind herself to take a deep breath and look at the big picture that surrounds her.

"I tell myself, ‘hey, all of this comes with what I do,’" Moore said. "I realize I’m lucky that I’m getting a chance to do something that I love and really enjoy. I’m not stuck in an office, so this isn’t bad at all."

At a time when her high school classmates are wrapping up college graduation and preparing to move onto or find careers, Moore has been at the top of the world in hers and pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings and sponsorships.

This year she has won two of the five Association of Surfing Professionals women’s events, only once finishing below third in any of them. She is the current points (39,700) and money ($172,250) leader.

Yet, when she got that Hall of Fame invitation, it was a sign of her modesty and unrelenting, competitive drive for improvement that she said to her father, Chris, "’isn’t this too soon?’"

And not just because the induction is being moved up to July 25 since the original date would have found her in the midst of defending Vans U.S. Open (July 27-Aug. 3), where she is a two-time winner.

Moore said, "I hoped that, maybe, someday, I would have a shot at something like this. But I thought it would be like when I was 32 or something. I feel like I’m still just beginning my career. Personally, when I look at myself, I would like to try to leave much more of a mark on surfing. I feel like I’ve just started."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.