Vans US Open of Surfing
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 26, who collected a US Open win in 2007, put together another dominant performance in Round 3. The Australian surfed the tricky beachbreak with a textbook approach, connecting strong outside turns and committed inside maneuvers on the reform for another convincing heat win. “There was a lot of action at the start of the heat,” said Stephanie Gilmore. “Lakey (Peterson), myself and Paige (Hareb) all got quite a lot of waves and I knew I needed to get busy early because it could go quiet. I pieced things together well in that heat. I’ve been coming here since I was 13 and won it once in 2007 when it was a QS. It’s a wild event, there’s so much going on and it’s very colorful. It’s a lot of fun, a great experience and I’ve always had a good time here. I hope I can get a win in again.” Photo: ASP/ Morris
The Vans US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach is a carnival. It’s not really about surfing – it’s more about the scene, which is pretty awesome, even though it sometimes involves a riot or two. The surfing just acts as a catalyst, of sorts. People show up. People party. People surf. But most of all, people party. And while Huntington doesn’t normally get amazing waves (it’s a surf contest in California in mid-summer), it does get amazing surfers, and they do pretty amazing things on not-so-amazing waves. See proof above. One-to-three foot slop doesn’t usually equal gouging turns and big-ass boosts, but somehow, amid the Huntington cacophony, those were both accomplished.