It just keeps getting bigger and bigger -- the scene, that is. The seventh day of competition at the U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill was filled with helicopters, DJs, a huge bowl to skate, Guitar Hero III, and a kid with a dreadlock mullet.
Oh yeah, there was some pretty good surfing too.
Taylor Knox, current number 23 on the ASP World Tour, made a pit stop between ASP World Tour events to come to Huntington Beach and dominate his heat, easily cruising to the round of 48 where he’ll face Hodei Collazo (Zarautz, EUK), Sterling Spencer (Gulf Breeze, FL) and Dusty Payne (Lahaina, HI) in his Round 4 heat tomorrow.
Groms ruled the circus today, ripping blistering solos on guitar hero, staying hydrated with vicious games of water pong, and throwing down some mean rallies at the mini ping pong table.
But while the groms ruled the tents, the locals ruled the water. Timmy Reyes, current number 14 on the ASP World Tour, came from behind in his heat to win with one of the highest heat totals, scoring a 17.7 out of 20 and the highest single wave score, a 9.17 out of 10.
Another local, Brett Simpson also won his heat with a score of 14.10 out of 20. It was a big day for Simpson as he also won his heat in the Boost Mobile Pro Shootout qualifying him for the Boost Mobile Pro Sho at Lower Trestles September 7th-13th. The shootout consisted of two heats of four surfers each
Huntington Beach’s adopted sun Sunny Garcia had probably the busiest day of anyone at the contest, although he probably wishes he surfed a little bit better. The waves flattened out in the afternoon as the tide came in and the west wind picked up, leading to two close thirds for Sunny, both in the U.S. Open and in the Boost Mobile Pro Shootout. To top it all off, after surfing two heats, Sunny had to run off the beach and get married, so he might have been a little distracted.
Cory Lopez surfed out of his mind, posting a 9.00, a 9.07 with a huge air reverse on the inside, showing that he’s surfing as good as ever. And Pat and Dane Gudauskas both won their heats while brother Tanner narrowly missed out on round four.
Everything is gonna heat up in the next couple days as the competition gets tighter and the scene gets crazier. Tomorrow the last four heats of the round of 96 will be held, featuring Chris Ward, Jordy Smith, and Julian Wilson, followed by all of the round of 48. Add in Motocross, skaters, beautiful women, crazy groms, and sunny weather…welcome to the circus.