We had our first stop in the Sun Diego Am Slam Surf Series presented by Billabong, RVCA, Quiksilver and Roxy! The season kicked off last weekend June 26th - 27th in Pacific Beach.
What a wild, strange, and testing 2020 we all had. With COVID 19 running rampant into the beginning part of 2021 It was unclear even as late as June 1st if there would even be an AM SLAM Season this year. Fortunately, thanks to the determination of the good people of Sun Diego Boardshops the latest iteration of Southern California’s funnest tour was able to get off the ground.
With almost all of North America’s WQS events on hold, Sun Diego saw a need and addressed it in a major way. The 2021 season would feature a full Pro Day and a $4000 prize purse. It gives an avenue for these extremely talented athletes to be rewarded financially for their efforts! Saturday June 26th saw some of the best performances ever seen at an Am Slam event. Fifty-four of the areas best Pros were putting up some major scores as conditions continued to improve as the day progressed. Kei Kobayashi was the standout of the day consistently dropping hammers and scoring in the excellent range all day. Nolan Ropoza and Lucas Owston were quietly making their way through the field saving their best efforts for the finals. Beck Adler was a newcomer to the scene but his tight backhand surfing was really impressive and he continually made heats all day.
The final for the Pro division saw some of the most free and awe inspiring surfing AM Slam has ever seen. Beck Adler was unlucky in the final as he sat at the south end of the event site waiting for some lefts to light up but unfortunately for him, they never came and he finished fourth. Kei, Nolan, and Lucas were trading hay maker after hay maker 7.9. 7.27. 8.63, 8.47, 8.83 7.23 were the surfers counting wave scores. With less the 2 points separating first from third it was amazingly tight. It was exciting to watch each surfer one up the next! In the end Nolan Rapoza came out on top and earned the $2000 pay day. Super grom Lucas Owston claimed second and $1000 for his efforts. Kei had to settle for third after a sizzling start to his day taking $650 home.
Sunday was family day and it was great to see all the groms and parents smiling faces. Conditions improved from Saturday so there were a lot of waves on offer for the 5 Amateur divisons.
First up the Juniors/Mens 15+ division featured a lot of heavy hitters and a final that was surfed extremely well. Encinitas homey Caleb Crozier was a standout all day and found himself in the winners circle after two solid waves in the final A close second and third place were awarded to Remy Juboori ( La Jolla) and Kai Williams ( Carlsbad), Titus Santucci, Harrison Gardner and Tyrone Fomenko round out the final three spots in the stacked division.
The Boys 14U Division was an extremely tight final. All the groms came out blazing. Graham Allen came out on top with a narrow .2-point victory over Ryder Smith. Dax Eaton, Jayden Lynds, Sutton Tudor and Campbell Heit finished 3rd -6th respectively.
The Women's Shortboard Final was a neck and neck and neck battle for 1st – 3rd place. Nanaho Tsuzuki, Ella McCaffrey and Kayla Coscino were RIPPING! Back and forth and back and forth the went dropping excellent score after excellent score. .37 points separated first through third. In the end Nanaho took the W with Ella and Kayla right behind her. What an awesome exchange by the ladies. A Special shoutout goes to Ella and Nanaho who surfed both the pro and mens divisions over the weekend. So glad to see this integration happening. It needs to happen. The gap is closing and it’s great to see the women challenge and beat the men. Keep it up!
Women's Longboard and Men's Longboard were dominated by their respective Champs. Tiare Thompson and Jack VanWagoner got out to early leads and never relinquished them. They lapped the field and took home some amazing swag for their efforts!!!
Congrats to all the winners and finalists for event #1. Really, though, congrats to everyone who came out and showed that we are better as a community when we are together and enjoying ourselves. What a weekend! Can’t for event two at San Clemente Pier July 10-11! Sign up today here!