The US Open of Surfing day 1 and 2 have passed by and so far it’s been amazing. Saturday began the early rounds of the Pro Jr’s and Sunday continues into the round of 32 where we saw how SPY’s John John Florence ripped small waves making it into the quarter finals which will run on mid day on Monday. On Sunday they also ran the Men’s trial heat where the top 4 surfers get placed in the the ASP Prime event. Amongst the top 4 was SPY’’s Torrey Meister. There was a lot of action with the SPY surf team in the water but there was some SPY action up on the corner of PCH and Main Street at HSS at noon. SPY had it’s 1st signing which featured the surf team riders, Parker Coffin, Evan Thompson, Mike Losness and the hottest surfer on the planet Alana Blanchard. There were games, autographs, SPY hats, koozies, lanyards, stickers and even a hilarious cartooned backdrop for Facebook photos to enjoy. Day 1 and 2 were a blast with 7 more days of fun in the sun left!
John John walking up from the beach into the competitor area
video screen grab of John John's Pro Jr heat
Video screen grab of Torrey flaring in the testing conditions of HB during the Men’s trials
Parker Coffin living la vida loca along with the rest of the team; Evan Thompson, Mike Losness and Alana Blanchard
Shred For Cred is a retail/athlete marketing event held by SPY. The event is a surf contest/ bowling tournament where the winners surf and bowl against SPY surf stars. The overall finalist brings home a pocket filled with cash and some kick ass SPY gear. The winner also gets to bring back a bag full of product to hand off to their store to sell. That’s free money to their store, which gives them hero status in the work place.
The first stop was Ponce Inlet, FL. The SPY surf stars were Ben Bourgeois aka Benny B and Cody Thompson. The waves were chest high and very rippable. A special thanks goes out to all the loc dogs that let us have our surf contest during a wave starved summer that was blessed with a one day swell during our event. The contest was surfed on retro boards or personal shortboards. If you chose the retro you got an extra 2 points added to your top 2 waves. Whether is was retro’s or shortboards, we saw some serious ripping from the surf shop employees.
After the contest was done it was off to the local bowling alley where the fried food and beer was plenty and gutter balls were frequent. There were a few ringers in that group. I remember a score of 180 something going down…. It was good times and a lot of laughs at the alley. After 3 games we had our finalists:
Thomas Lamprecht 1st place
Paul Forand 2nd place
Pierce Miller 3rd place
Robert Carmichael 4th place
Dane Jefferies 5th place
We had a little battle of the pros between Benny B and Cody T and it was Cody Thompson that rose to the occasion and took 40 cool ones from my pocket for his surf/bowling skills.
Shred For Cred heads to Huntington Beach August 17th!
Two of the largest and most credible amateur surfing events are held in the month of June. Last week Parker won the boys under 16 divisions in the Surfing America Championships, which was held in perfect overhead Lower Trestles. This week on July 3rd ended the NSSA National Championships, held in Huntington Beach, and the conditions were held mostly in below average conditions.
Parker showing his versatility in all types of surf conditions, once again stepped on to the podium in the #1 spot in the Open Juniors division.
Parker started off the final heat with a 5.5 and an 8.75 in the first five minutes, which had the rest of the competitors in that heat needing a combination of scores. On his 3rd and final wave Parker increased his lead with a 7.75 leaving the rest of the pack way behind and his 2nd major win of this summer.
If there was any doubt of Parker’s ability, the back-to-back wins have proven that he is the best 15 yr old in the nation.
Parker had this to say about his recent victory. “Until lately I hadn’t really won a major event in almost a year. This weekend I nailed my second win, which was my goal for this summer. I am very excited and can’t believe that it all came together for me. June and the first part of July has been the most fun and best times I have ever had. A lot of great things have happened and I hope it doesn’t end!”
Parker talking about his win over the live webcast
Sat June 25 ended a 5 day surf contest to see who would be considered one of the best surfers within their age division. The Surfing America Championships was an invite only event that selected the best surfer from the east and west coast of the US and Hawaii.
Spy’s Parker Coffin from Santa Barbara surfed in the boys under 16 division. Last year Parker finished 2nd in this division, narrowly losing to Kolohe Andino. This year was all about redemption and from his first heat Parker established that he was going to be the one to beat. Parker ended his final heat with an incredible last ride and a point back to his family and friends which was rewarded with 9.8 and a heat total of 17.80, that left the rest of the surfers in that heat needing a combination of score to beat him. That’s redemption!
See more of Parker and the the event by clicking HERE and HERE
Parker coming to the beach in a suit showed he's all about business. Parker holding his 1st palce trophy for the contest and the seasons overall ratings
Screen grab of Parker's 9.8 winning ride in the finals
Parker holding his American Flag board talking to Lakey Peterson
Well day 2 is over and done with, TG! Parker had a wave starved heat and with only 8 mins left, Parker managed to get his two waves and make the heat. His 15.17 heat total was enough to win and advance him into the next round which is today around 1:20. If you want to see more of the contest click HERE. Wish us luck!
This was one if his moves that earned him an 8.0 on this wave
(left to right) Dave Post, Parker Coffin and me, John Oda. Ha! We all looked way too focused. I guess it paid off. :)
If you voted for Torrey during the 1st round of Innersection.tv, thank you; you helped him make it into the top 10. This is the 2nd and final round.
Torrey needs to make the top 5 to qualify to be in the Innersection DVD movie to be released during the holiday season this year. He cannot qualify into the top 5 without your support.
Please log on to innersection.tv and vote him into the top 5 slots. Check our Facebook page where you can win some of the sickest sunglasses made.
Parker had a good day today at the Surfing America Championships in the under 16 division. He scored the days highest ridden wave 9.7 and the highest combined heat total of 19.36 points out of a possible 20. Go to SURFLINE to see a video of Parker waves from Tuesday’s heat.
