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INTERNATIONAL CONTINGENT MIXES WITH LOCAL TALENT FOR EXCITING O'NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC ACTION
Local surfer Bud Freitas (Santa Cruz, CA), 24, earned the day’s highest heat total of 16.90 with explosive surfing in front of his home crowd, while Australia’s Jayke Sharp (Coffs Harbor, AUS), 20, posted the event’s highest single wave score in Round 2. Granger Larson (Lahaina, HI), 18, advanced through two heats today and won his Round 3 heat in convincing fashion. The O’Neill Cold Water Classic marks the last ASP WQS event held in mainland America and also marks the final event of the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series. With 2006 specialty series winner and current Trifecta leader Nathan Yeomans (San Clemente, CA), 27, not competing in the Santa Cruz contest, Asher Nolan (Jacksonville, FL), 30, who is currently in second and local surfer Kieran Horn (Santa Cruz, CA), 34, who is in third, will be fighting to claim top honors of this year’s Trifecta Champion. Nolan and Horn will both surf in the Round of 64. Freitas came out of the gate hot in his opening heat today, dominating his Round 3 competition. Freitas earned two single wave scores of 8.33 and 8.57, both out of a possible 10, with huge fins-free turns to claim the heat victory in front of his local crowd. “It’s just killer to be home and do this in front of my friends and family, so I’m stoked.” Freitas said. Freitas earned a Quarterfinals finish in last year’s O’Neill Cold Water Classic and is using the result as motivation for a better result this year. The Santa Cruz local is hoping to win this year’s O’Neill Cold Water Classic and bring the title back home to Santa Cruz. “I was bummed about last year,” Freitas said. “I thought I was going to make it to the Final. There’s more to come this year. I could win – you never know. I’d be stoked.” Sharp combined several forehand blasts with a massive layback snap to earn the event’s top single wave score of an 8.83 out of a possible 10 on a long Steamer Lane righthander. The young Australian followed up with a second solid score to claim his Round 2 heat victory. “It was pretty fun out there,” Sharp said. “The rights have a little bit of a bump in it once it comes off of the cliff, but when you pick the right one it’s pretty easy to get a good score I think.” Sharp, who finished fourth on the ASP Australasia Pro Junior Series, proved he is ready for ASP WQS competition today and is looking to use his impressive performance in Round 2 as a confidence builder for the remainder of the event. The stylish regular-footer is hoping a good performance at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic will improve his rating for next year’s ASP WQS. “It’d mean heaps to me,” Sharp said. “It helps me for next year and I’d be stoked.” Larsen earned the event’s second-highest heat total of 15.43 out of a possible 20 point score in Round 3 today with several smooth forehand carves on two clean waves donated by Steamer Lane. The Maui-based surfer jumped out to an early lead, dominating the heat throughout its entirety. “I was hoping to catch a couple of waves out there and I got a few fun ones,” Larsen said.” “It was pretty fun. I’m riding a board that’s a little wider and a little thicker and I’m really stoked on it. Hopefully it works really good out there tomorrow.” Larsen advanced through Round 2 today and used the heat as a warm up for Round 3. “My first heat was a good warm up for this one,” Larsen said. “My first heat was really small and hard to surf and I’m super stoked to get waves in that heat and get a few scores. I was hoping to get 8 point scores like I did in that last heat.” Tomorrow’s competition will see the completion of Round 3 and the event’s top seeds in Round 4. Live streaming video and scoring will broadcast the event to the world at www.coldwaterclassic.net for all six days of competition. The O’Neill Cold Water Classic, now in its 21st year, boasts a prize purse of $80,000 for the WQS event (up $5,000 from last year), $15,000 for the Oakley Pro Junior, and $25,000 for the Macy’s CA Trifecta bonus cash. The event also marks the final WQS event on the U.S. mainland and the ASP North America Championships for the Pro Juniors. As the final stop of the Macy’s CA Trifecta Surf Series, the Cold Water Classic will award a $15,000 bonus cash purse to the top three finishers in the WQS division of the series – $10,000 for first, $3,500 for second and $1,500 for third. For the second year, the Oakley Pro Junior division will also receive a significant Trifecta bonus purse, which has doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 and will award $7,000 for first, $2,000 for second, and $1,000 for third. Special thanks to the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, Oakley Pro Junior and Macy’s CA Trifecta supporting sponsors: O’Neill, Oakley, Macy’s, Red Bull, Coors, Fosters, Palm, SURFER Magazine, SURFING Magazine, WaveWatch.com and FUEL TV. For more information on the Macy's California Trifecta Surf Series visit www.catrifecta.com.
WaveWatch.com Forecast for the O’Neill Cold Water Classic O’Neill Cold Water Classic Results: Round of 96 (1st and 2nd advance) About O'NeillO’Neill, the original Californian surf, snow and lifestyle brand, was founded in 1952 when a young man named Jack O’Neill took his unstoppable passion for surfing and used it to beat Mother Nature at her own game. Pioneering the world’s first neoprene wetsuit, Jack had successfully found a way to extend his surf sessions in the bone-chilling breaks of Northern California. He opened up the garage doors to his first surf shop in Santa Cruz soon after. While many things have changed since those humble beginnings, Jack’s initial vision of producing functional and innovative boardriding products continues to lie at the core of everything the company does. O’Neill’s set of core values – innovation in style and technology – has seen the brand devote itself wholeheartedly to the evolution of action sports. From the first ever neoprene wetsuit and surf leash, to the world’s first stitchless boardshorts and range of groundbreaking wearable electronics, O’Neill’s spirit of innovation will always drive the company forwards. Today, O’Neill can be found the world over. In touch with its rich heritage and the universal stoke of boardriding culture, O’Neill will always be committed to progressing that evolution and growing its reputation as one of the world’s leading youth lifestyle brands. About Oakley, Inc. About Source Interlink Media’s Action Sports Group (ASG) |
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Santa Cruz, Calif., October 22, 2008 – The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4-Star O’Neill Cold Water Classic completed Round 2 and the first eight heats of Round 3 today in two-to-four foot (1 metre) conditions at Steamer Lane. 