[3] Colin was raised in San Clemente, California, United States, where his parents taught him how to surf at the age of five.

He started out as a shortboarder, finishing fourth place in the 1992 United States Surfing Championship in Huntington Beach, California.

In October 1999, he defeated Marcelo Freitas from Brazil at One Mile Point, Australia to win his first ASP World Tour title.

[6] In 2000 he finished 3rd, but came back to win 2 world titles in a row by defeating local surfer Jason Ribbink in the final at J-Bay, South Africa in 2001[7] and in August 2002, he narrowly defeated Hawaiian Bonga Perkins to retain the world title at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

He currently designs longboards and paddle boards for Hobie and features in surf documentaries (see below for details).