Surfers and bodysurfers find stoke at waveriding contests

Competitor Billy Atkinson, winner of a South Bay Boardriders grom charger award, puts it on a rail in smaller conditions at the International Surf Festival Surfing Championship Saturday morning at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Photo by Sean McDonald
Competitor Billy Atkinson, winner of a South Bay Boardriders grom charger award, puts it on a rail in smaller conditions at the International Surf Festival Surfing Championship Saturday morning at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Photo by Sean McDonald

Competitor Billy Atkinson, winner of a South Bay Boardriders grom charger award, puts it on a rail in smaller conditions at the International Surf Festival Surfing Championship Saturday morning at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Photo by Sean McDonald

by Sean McDonald

Gloomy skies and onshore winds are never what wave riders hope for. But contestants at Saturday’s surfing and body surfing competitions made the most of it.
The day began on the north side of the Manhattan Beach Pier before 7 a.m., and the dreary weather and early hour didn’t drive anyone away: the beach was already packed with participants.
The annual International Surf Festival Bodysurfing Championship started things off. It was a record year for the boardless competition with over 130 people participants entered. Event Coordinator Bob Holmes, a former Manhattan Beach City Council member, said that this year’s event was one of the best yet and that it was most definitely an overall success.
“We had good waves, a great crowd, and a great event. We can’t wait until next year,” Holmes said.
The competition began with the preliminary heats for each age division. The first heat was the Legends, ages 60 and up, followed by Grand Masters, ages 54-59, Masters, ages 49-53, Senior Men’s, ages 35-48, Men’s, ages 18-34, and finally Senior Boys, 18 and under. For girls, the two heats were girls under 18 and 18 and over.
Jeff Lashbrook of Dana Point took home first in the Legends division, David Lane of Huntington Beach was first in the Grand Masters division, and Don McCredie of Avalon Bay, Australia was the champion of the Masters division.
The Grand Master’s heat featured a series of sneaker sets. Many of the seasoned competitors found themselves out of position, and were forced to dive under breaking waves as the swam for the outside, missing some of the best potential scores.
Competitors in subsequent rounds took note. For the Senior Men’s division, Chris Kalima from Los Angeles was the winner, Tom Marr from Brisbane, Australia won the Men’s division, and Trey Mahan of Manhattan Beach won the 18 and under division. For the women, Meredith Rose of Del Mar came out number one for the above 18 division and Sofia Looser from San Diego was the winner of the under 18 division.
Shorty after the start of the bodysurfing competition, the surfers took their place on the south side of the pier. Like the bodysurfing contest, preliminary heats gave way to knockout rounds. Competitors divided competitors into micro groms, groms, junior men, men, junior longboard, men’s longboard, senior men’s long board, senior men, women’s shortboard, women’s long board, and bodyboarding.
Gavin Lusby was the champion of the micro groms and Finn Bertran was the winner of the groms. Yuri Fresia captured the men’s title and Scott Mitmer did the same for the senior men’s division. Andrew Neal took first place in junior longboard, Steve Wilson was first in men’s longboard, and Rick Logue was first in senior men’s longboard. and Peri Nathan won the women’s longboard division. Luc Jacquemetton won the bodyboarding division.
Megan Seth was a consensus top performer at the event placing first in the women’s shortboard contest, as well as the junior men’s division. Top performers like Zach Rosenberg and Chad Parks surfed well, but seemed less able to capitalize on the waves that came their way, which grew smaller and weaker as the day drew on.
Participants took the mellow waves in stride, enjoying the civic spirit of the event.
“I thought it was really fun, and I liked taking part in the community event because it has so many different parts to it so it felt like everyone got to participate,” said women’s shortboarder Amelie Vergnolle.

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