2000 was a difficult year for Laguna Niguel, CA’s Pat O’Connell. After a promising start on the World Championship Tour (WCT), a serious knee injury severely impeded his performance in the water. O’Connell’s WCT standing dropped from 25^th in 1999 to 40^th in 2000. Although his ranking should have forced him off of the WCT in 2001, his experience, along with the respect he’d gained on the WCT, made him eligible to receive an injury wildcard slot on the tour by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP). He will enter 2001 ranked 33^rd in the world. Despite his injury, don’t underestimate O’Connell!! After an intensive rehabilitation regimen, O’Connell is determined to prove that he’s still got what it takes to compete among the world’s elite surfers.

In addition to eleven years on the WCT, O’Connell’s fame as one of the most prominent names on the professional tour was assured when he stared in the 1994 hit movie Endless Summer II. A follow-up to Bruce Brown’s legendary surf documentary, Endless Summer II accompanied O’Connell and Robert "Wingnut" Weaver around the world in search of the perfect wave. Due to his international stardom, O’Connell is considered an outstanding spokesman for the surfing industry. During the 2000 season, for example, the Orange County Register did a four part, cover-page spread on O’Connell which not only documented his valiant battle against his debilitating knee injury and his struggle to stay afloat on the WCT, but also provided great publicity for professional surfing.

O’Connell further expanded his list of accomplishments when, in 1998, he teamed up with big wave rider Mike Parsons and Greg "GT" Tomlinson to create the Realm, a popular surfwear company in San Clemente, CA. Besides his role as co-founder, O’Connell, along with such big name riders as three-time world champion Tom Curren, is part of the Realm’s impressive surf team that helps endorse the Realm’s core products.