Sun Diego Am Slam Surf Event 2

Am Slam Surf Event 2 Recap

Our second stop of the Sun Diego Am Slam Surf Series presented by O’Neill kicked off Saturday July 30th at OB Pier.  Check out the full story >>

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RESULTS:

BOYS 1. TYRONE FOMENKO 2. MICK DAVEY 3. SEBASTIAN OJEDA 4. FLYNN DARTLAND 5. RAPHAEL CASTRO 6. KAYLIB YANG

WOMENS 1. SAMANTHA SIBLEY 2. OLIVIA PASSANHA 3. EMILY GUSSONI 4. TIARE THOMPSON 5. BROOKE YOUNG 6. ELLE SAMPIERE

JUNIORS 1. CALEB CROZIER 2. LIAM MURRAY 3. MICAH CROZIER 4. ZACH MCCORMICK 5. RAPHAEL CASTRO 6. DANIEL PINA

MENS 1. FRANCISCO BELLORIN 2. RAFAEL PEREIRA 3. JAY CHRISTENSON 4. JJ LOPEZ 5. ZANE NORMAN 6. ADIN MASENKAMP

PRO/AM 1. LUEL FELIPE 2. IAN GOUVEIA 3. DUSTIN RICHARDSON 4. KILLIAN GARLAND

During the weekend chaos of a US Open, the Sun Diego Am Slam Surf Series held its monthly points rated event at Ocean Beach Pier. In stark contrast to the mayhem up north the event had a cruisy vibe and a lot of smiles. Small but contestable surf greeted 50 pro surfers Saturday morning and a day of memorable performances got under way.

It was hard to pick a favorite because, ultimately, with that much talent the waves make the difference. And the surf can be a fleeting lover at times. South and Central Americans including surfers from Costa Rica, Valenzuela, Uruguay, and Brazil made up over half the field and they made their presence known early and often.

Californians and Locals were feeling the passion and desire from their competitors to the south to win the $2200 first place check. Some heats had that Op Pro circa 1985 vibe. It was awesome to witness!

Luel Felipe, the eventual event champ was a virtual unknown. A soft spoken Brazilian on land, in the water, however, he was fiery and surfing at a level that is really hard to achieve in small beach break. He consistently mixed up radical full rail carves with flair in the air to rack up nothing less than a 6.7 all the way up to the final.

In said final he laid the hammer down early. He started with a 9.0 on a wave that just continued to give and he took advantage with five full rail carves and lippers to post that excellent score. His very next wave was even better with a lot of fins showing out the back 4 times in a row to garner a 9.9. In just five minutes he had the other four finalists who are extremely talented combo'd and fighting for second place.

Ian Gouviea placed second place surfing well enough to win 99% of the heats that day. Unfortunately for him he ran into Luel’s buzzsaw in the final. Dustin Richardson from New Smyrna FL threw caution to the wind all day and in the final pulled one of the better airs of the event to finish 3 rd . Killian Garland who is progressive and smooth as hell finished fourth in a stacked and entertaining final.

After a scorcher of a day on Saturday it was the groms turn to turn up the heat on Sunday. Rising surf and an amazing family atmosphere aided in bringing on some great performances. Surface Suncare Systems even busted out the grill and fed the competitors and their families! Everyone involved had fun and a great time!!!

Every division saw searing performances all in hopes of winning one of the amazing prize packs filled with gear from Oneill, Spy, Nixon, Reef, Creatures of Leisure, and Surface Suncare Products.

First up was the Boys (13 and under) Division. The young guys set the stage for the rest of finals with aggressive surfing and vertical turns which has become the new standard in surfing for the younger divisions. These kids are well coached and highly driven. The hard charging ginger from San Clemente, Tyrone Fomenko, dropped some big scores on some rare open lefts and used them to propel him to the top of the podium. Local Mick Davey came in a close second, followed by Sebastian Ojeda.

In the Womens (open) Division Samantha Sibley used her competitive savvy and raw ability to nearly lap the field and take home a dominate 1 st place finish over a stacked final field.

Caleb Crozier, in the juniors (14-16) Division, had a dog fight on his hands in his respective final. Liam Murray and Crozier were in a dog fight till the very end when Caleb picked up two 8 point + rides to seal the deal.

For the Men’s(Open) division it was an international affair as there were a South African, 3 Valenzuelans and 2 Americans in the final. When the dust settled Francisco Bellorin (VEN) came out the victor over fellow countrymen Rafael Pereira and Pacific Beach local Jay Christenson.

All in all another great day in the books with smiles for miles. The groms can’t wait for the next event to kick off!

Make sure you do not miss next month’s exciting event to be held at San Clemente Pier on Aug. 27-28

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