Californian teenager Griffin Colapinto has ex-Tropical Cyclone Linda to thank for providing him with the wave of his life. The 19-year-old became the talk of the surfing world on Thursday after standing through three barrels at Kirra Point in Queensland to score the first 10-pointer of the new World Surf League season.

The Quiksilver Pro event was moved from nearby Snapper Rocks because of the wild conditions whipped up by the weather system just off the Gold Coast. Colapinto reaped the rich rewards in his quarter-final win over French Polynesian Michel Bourez.

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Making his first non-wildcard appearance on the tour, he looked delighted after the first barrel and threw his hands into the air in celebration after making it through the second – then dropped them just as quickly when the third appeared.

“When that wave was coming in I just wanted to get one barrel and then I came out of the first one and saw there was a second one and made that and then saw there was a third,” a buzzing Colapinto said. “I think that might have been one of the best waves of my life. Never gotten three barrels on one wave like that. In a contest too. Insane.”

Colapinto was last year’s WSL qualifying series winner and is the youngest of seven rookies on the championship tour this season. “It’s been really weird for me. All the people watching, I’m not used to that, but it’s really cool and I love it,” he said.

Australian Julian Wilson, who knocked Colapinto out of the competition in the semi-finals, said he looked like the “happiest grom in the world” after his 10-point ride. “I just like to see that stoke in his face ... he was just letting it all shine through, his ability and his talent,” Wilson said.