Surfing world gets a shake-up at the O'Neill Coldwater Classic
John John Florence
Kelly Slater
Damien Hobgood
A sunny, beautiful day at the Lane with a great turnout
Yesterday, I was fortunate to attend the Oneill Coldwater Classic, Day 4 of this celebrated professional surf contest held each Fall at Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz. Being a NorCal native and having spent years surfing the epic chilly waters of Santa Cruz breaks including "The Lane", I get more excited about watching a surf event like the CWC because it hosts more sentimental value. And having the ability to watch the lineup of world-renowned athletes surfing with truly remarkable style and ability on waves and amidst natural water strategies with which you're familiar—truly makes the spectating experience even that more enjoyable.
Sunday at the Classic was a more unusual day for pro surfing in that many of the great longtime legends and current surf heros, contenders for surfing's ASP World Title, as several of the competitive athletes most favored and predicted to advance were eliminated by their unexpected counterparts battling against them in the tricky ASP "man-on-man" competitive heat format used at this event. As the format gives one surfer priority wave calls over another, it ended up locking out a lot of the athletes—who came to the table with a plethora of prior contest wins in hand—from engaging with desired wave selection, ultimately forcing them out of key heat waves needed to advance.
Among the major upsets of the day included Mick Fanning, John John Florence, Taylor Knox and much local Santa Cruz anticipation for Nat Young was lost when he was defeated by Joel Parkinson at day's end. Kelly Slater current ASP WCT No. 2, kept his hopes of a 12th ASP World Title. He struggled to find a rhythm in the challenging Steamer Lane lineup, but rebounded in his Round 3 bout against Payne, while an ASP World Title decision was forced to be held off for final showdown this Winter at the Pipe Masters in Hawaii.
All photos above taken by: Graphicsdiva http://graphicsdiva.com/
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