What a way to start the sixth season of Am Slam!!!! San Clemente played host to the roaming circus that is Am Slam on Saturday June 8 at the iconic pier. Check out the reslults, pics and recap for the day!
Waves and weather were unbelievably cooperative for the inaugural event that kicks off summer. Really rippable 2-4 ft peaks graced the contest zone all day and Mother Nature gave the participants and crowd alike 75 degrees, sun, and virtually no wind. It was one of those days you never wanted to end! 132 surfers packed the event in San Clemente causing organizers to run heats for nearly 11 hours. It was worth it, as some of the best surfing ever witnessed at Am Slam went down throughout the day. San Clemente surfers held serve all day, as one would imagine, posting high scores and having a whopping 17 finalists from or living in San Clemente. The First final of the day featured Women’s Longboarding. Waves were ideal for the ladies with long soft
peaky shoulders on offer for them to do their thing. Mia McMahon was the class of the closely contested final edging out Ella Campagna by a mere .28 points!! What a tight one! The Boys were next and it was aggressive from the get go with six frothing Groms sitting on the pier peak. Dane Matson was the class of the finals posting two big numbers but a paddling interference on
fellow SC Surfer, Ben Brantell, left the door open just enough for Ben to sneak through on a buzzer beater.
Local longboarders dominated their respective final with incredibly smooth and radical surfing. Koby Gilchrist was silky with his flawless cross stepping and body varial off the lips. He was cruising to a victory until fellow local Bobby Hasbrook got a 9.5 in the dying stages of the heat to pull ahead and take the victory.
Encinitas’s Caleb Crozier was in form all day and was looking to take the Juniors Crown. Kei Kobayashi had other plans as he snuck in a late 6.87 to nudge the Sun Diego team rider by .17.
The Womens Shortboard final belonged to one woman the entirety of the heat. Sawyer Linblad dominated on her backhand to garner two good scores and cruise to an easy victory.
The Pro/Am Final was the best final ever witnessed at an Am Slam Event. With names like Ian Crane, Kei Kobayashi, Jeremy Carter. Brazilian wunderkinds Wesley Santos and (last years pro champ) Tales Aroujo. As well as Venezuelan Champ, Rafael Pereira, everyone knew it was going to be a mind blowing final. All we needed was waves, and there were plenty. The action never stopped during the 20 minute final. Every surfer in the final was in the double digits which is amazing in itself due to the fact that there six amazingly talented surfers in the water. Massive airs and huge rail gouges were happening on the regular. The judges barely had time to input scores. 37 waves were ridden in 20 minutes with 15 of them being above a six. Kei Kobayashi stayed on rail in the final cracking the lip hard and often. He gained two scores in the excellent range fairly quickly. Then Ian Crane boosted a huge frontside reverse to pull close, then had another left where the local unleashed 3 ruthless turns on a set and grabbed the lead. Rafael Pereira made things interesting with a massive punt of his own but it came up just short of the two San Clemente surfers. In the end Ian came out on top with a well-deserved $800 pay day!
What an amazing start to the summer! Thanks to all the people who came out and cheered on all the surfers. Thanks to all of our sponsors as well! Sun Diego Boardshops, Vans, Bones Love Milk, Nixon, Spy, Creatures of Leisure, Speaqua, FCS and Wienerschnitzel. These events could not be done without their support as well as the amazing families that make the Am Slam what it is, a really fun beach event! Sign-ups are now open for our Ocean Beach event July 6 th at OB Pier. See you then.
Full Results are available on the Stact App!!! Download today!
Results:
Mens Pro/ Am:
Waves and weather were unbelievably cooperative for the inaugural event that kicks off summer. Really rippable 2-4 ft peaks graced the contest zone all day and Mother Nature gave the participants and crowd alike 75 degrees, sun, and virtually no wind. It was one of those days you never wanted to end! 132 surfers packed the event in San Clemente causing organizers to run heats for nearly 11 hours. It was worth it, as some of the best surfing ever witnessed at Am Slam went down throughout the day. San Clemente surfers held serve all day, as one would imagine, posting high scores and having a whopping 17 finalists from or living in San Clemente. The First final of the day featured Women’s Longboarding. Waves were ideal for the ladies with long soft
peaky shoulders on offer for them to do their thing. Mia McMahon was the class of the closely contested final edging out Ella Campagna by a mere .28 points!! What a tight one! The Boys were next and it was aggressive from the get go with six frothing Groms sitting on the pier peak. Dane Matson was the class of the finals posting two big numbers but a paddling interference on
fellow SC Surfer, Ben Brantell, left the door open just enough for Ben to sneak through on a buzzer beater.
Local longboarders dominated their respective final with incredibly smooth and radical surfing. Koby Gilchrist was silky with his flawless cross stepping and body varial off the lips. He was cruising to a victory until fellow local Bobby Hasbrook got a 9.5 in the dying stages of the heat to pull ahead and take the victory.
Encinitas’s Caleb Crozier was in form all day and was looking to take the Juniors Crown. Kei Kobayashi had other plans as he snuck in a late 6.87 to nudge the Sun Diego team rider by .17.
The Womens Shortboard final belonged to one woman the entirety of the heat. Sawyer Linblad dominated on her backhand to garner two good scores and cruise to an easy victory.
The Pro/Am Final was the best final ever witnessed at an Am Slam Event. With names like Ian Crane, Kei Kobayashi, Jeremy Carter. Brazilian wunderkinds Wesley Santos and (last years pro champ) Tales Aroujo. As well as Venezuelan Champ, Rafael Pereira, everyone knew it was going to be a mind blowing final. All we needed was waves, and there were plenty. The action never stopped during the 20 minute final. Every surfer in the final was in the double digits which is amazing in itself due to the fact that there six amazingly talented surfers in the water. Massive airs and huge rail gouges were happening on the regular. The judges barely had time to input scores. 37 waves were ridden in 20 minutes with 15 of them being above a six. Kei Kobayashi stayed on rail in the final cracking the lip hard and often. He gained two scores in the excellent range fairly quickly. Then Ian Crane boosted a huge frontside reverse to pull close, then had another left where the local unleashed 3 ruthless turns on a set and grabbed the lead. Rafael Pereira made things interesting with a massive punt of his own but it came up just short of the two San Clemente surfers. In the end Ian came out on top with a well-deserved $800 pay day!
What an amazing start to the summer! Thanks to all the people who came out and cheered on all the surfers. Thanks to all of our sponsors as well! Sun Diego Boardshops, Vans, Bones Love Milk, Nixon, Spy, Creatures of Leisure, Speaqua, FCS and Wienerschnitzel. These events could not be done without their support as well as the amazing families that make the Am Slam what it is, a really fun beach event! Sign-ups are now open for our Ocean Beach event July 6 th at OB Pier. See you then.
Full Results are available on the Stact App!!! Download today!
Results:
Mens Pro/ Am:
- Ian Crane
- Kei Kobayashi
- Rafael Pereira
- Wesley Santos
- Jeremy Carter
- Tales Araujo
- Kei Kobayashi
- Caleb Crozier
- Namor Cayres
- Ben Brantell
- Jake Vandenburg
- Lewis Aberle
- Ben Brantell
- Dane Matson
- Lewis Aberle
- Kyan Yang
- Hendrick Osterkamp
- Kai Williams
- Bobby Hasbrook
- Koby Gilchrist
- Jack Van Wagoner
- Aidan Sautner
- Kai Cassano
- Justin Sampas
- Sawyer Lindblad
- Mara Morales
- Abby Dixon
- Sierra Downer
- Hana Johnson
- Kloee Openshaw
- Mia Mcmahon
- Ellah Campagna
- Olivia Censoplano
- Kaili Arnston
- Hannah Ruskey