Colapinto has been surfing in competition since the 2011 men's junior season at 13 years old. He also won the 2021 US Open of Surfing in the WSL Challenger Series. In
2023, Colapinto qualified for the first time for the
2023 Rip Curl World Surf League Finals held at his hometown
surf break at the
Lower Trestles in
San Clemente. During the season, he won the
Surf Ranch Pro, as well as finished as the runner-up at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach,
Margaret River Pro, and Surf City El Salvador Pro. He entered the final ranked 2nd in the world rankings and was highly touted locally, as a Californian male had not won a world title since
Tom Curren in 1990. The fanfare also included a personal motivational speech from actor
Matthew McConaughey, which gained traction on social media. He finished in 3rd place at the final, with the 2nd most overall season points. After qualifying for the
2024 Paris Olympic Games for his first Olympic Games appearance, he was later eliminated in the third round of the
men's shortboard competition, finishing 9th place overall. This led him to finish the season 3rd overall in points and qualify for the
2024 World Surf League Finals. He finished in 3rd place at the final. == Career victories ==