This weekend kicks off the return of the US Open Of Surfing at Huntington Beach, one of Southern California most well known surfing contest. The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) early this year awarded the men's contest with Prime Status due to various factors such as prestige, increase prize purse, web quality, site infrastructure, and more. The Open consists of 5 surfing divisions (men, junior men, women, junior women, sponsor event/demo) spread over 9 days of competition from July 31 - August 8th.
Last year, we saw 25-30 ft sets thanks to an earthquake off the coast of New Zealand and local surfer Brett Simpson win the contest against Australian pro surfer Mick Fanning. What an event it was with thousands of people on the beach for the final day to see Hurley's Brett Simpson take $100,000 prize purse for 1st place.
This year promises to be bigger and better, hopefully a swell comes through to offer spectacular waves for the surfers to show off their skills and aerials. With the new World Ranking system and the folks at Nike continue to offer $100,000 prize for the winner of the US Open of Surfing, we can expect to see more pro surfers in Huntington Beach with their eyes on the prize. Currently, 33 of the 45 WCT surfers are seeded in the contest. World Tour surfers Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith are just a few of the pro surfers expected to compete in the men's surfing division.
If you can't make it down to Huntington Beach, no worries you are covered with the web cast. This year, there will be a web cast not only for surfing, but also for BMX Pro, Converse skate, Walk the Walk and concerts. This year's music headliners include Weezer, Cobra Starship, Cold War Kids, Switchfoot just to name a few. The Festival Village, sponsor booths, will not open until Thursday. Throughout the week, there will be plenty of autograph signings, surf film premieres, and other events such as the Action Sports Conference and Agenda Trade Show going on in Huntington Beach. Visit HSS, Jack's Surfboards, and Rip Curl for when they will be hosting athletes autograph signings.
To view the web cast and a complete schedule of competition, visit www.usopenofsurfing.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment