LIHU‘E — The 2010 U.S. Open of Surfing gets its opening rounds of surf competition underway today at Huntington Beach, Calif. A strong field of Kaua‘i surfers will be in the mix, hoping to advance through the competitive fields, all
LIHU‘E — The 2010 U.S. Open of Surfing gets its opening rounds of surf competition underway today at Huntington Beach, Calif.
A strong field of Kaua‘i surfers will be in the mix, hoping to advance through the competitive fields, all looking for the points and prestige that comes with an impressive performance.
The reigning U.S. Open Women’s Pro Junior champion and the 2008 U.S. Open Women’s champion, Wailua’s Malia Manuel, will be back to go after another title. She, along with Bethany Hamilton, Alana Blanchard, Gabrielle Cope and Leila Hurst, will be after a piece of the WQS and Junior prize purses, set at $60,000 and $10,000, respectively.
The defending champion is California’s Courtney Conlogue.
On the men’s side, Sebastian Zietz, Gavin Gillette, Kyle Galtes, Alex Smith and Jesse Merle-Jones will all be paddling out in front of the more than 100,000 spectators, which is typical for the world-famous Huntington Pier shorebreak, considered to be the closest thing to an actual surf stadium.
The reigning Men’s ASP Prime champion is Brett Simpson, who had battled through years on the WQS circuit before coming through on his home turf with the 2009 U.S. Open victory. This year’s champ will take home $100,000 from the $250,000 prize pool.
Hawai‘i’s Kai Barger won the Men’s Pro Junior last year, which will have a $10,000 purse this time around.
In addition to the surf events, the U.S. Open has expanded into a week-long festival. There is a Nike 6.0 BMX Pro park event, the Converse Coastal Carnage skateboarding competition, an interactive experience with competitors from across all the featured sports and a five-day music festival.
Follow the action for results and live web feeds at usopenofsurfing.com.
NSSA event today at PK’s
LIHU‘E — Contest No. 2 of the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s Hawai‘i 2010-2011 season will take place today and Sunday at P.K.’s.
Lawai Beach will see many of Hawai‘i’s top amateurs converging to carve up the waves and accumulate points.
The NSSA Hawaiian tour includes nine contests across the state with contestants building up point totals to earn regional championships and a trip the national event in California.
For more information, visit nssahawaii.org.
