Challenger Series kicks off at U.S. Open of Surfing

The surf action at the US Open of Surfing resumed on Thursday, July 31, with the first day of the World Surf League’s Challenger Series.

Following the longboarding contest that wrapped up on Tuesday, the Challenger Series was set to launch on Wednesday, but the competition’s start was delayed a day because of a lack of good conditions. The ocean offered up slightly larger waves on Thursday, but it was still a struggle for the competitors at the Huntington Beach event.

San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino, who entered the event as a wildcard, was able to find a few waves to take the top spot in his heat and advance to the next round.

“It’s kind of like a home break, coming through the ranks of the NSSA and USA Surfing, you’re here almost every weekend,” said Andino, a former World Tour surfer.

While he knows the waves well, he also knows they can be tricky.

“It can be tough out there so you have to be sharp,” he said.

Tahitian Kauli Vaast was another recognizable name that showed up for the event, the Olympic gold medalist last year missing to instead go to the Paris Games closing ceremonies. It wasn’t easy to find the waves to score, but he managed to find the two waves he needed for a score.

“It is what it is,” he said. “This is what we do and we try to perform each day, every day. Today was hard, but stoked to make it.”

It wasn’t easy being in Huntington Beach, surfing tiny waves, when it was pumping at his home break, Teahupo’o, in Tahiti.

“I have to focus here,” said Vaast, who is trying to make it onto the World Tour among the world’s best. “Stoked to make my heat today. I think the next couple days there’s more waves, so we’ll see.”

Former World Tour surfer Josh Kerr couldn’t find the waves he needed, seeing an early exit from the event.

“I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn’t know it was going to be that bad,” said the 41-year-old surfer.  “I’m always excited to do this event again, but not in that fashion.”

Kerr started competing in the Huntington Beach event more than 20 years ago, so he knows it can be fickle at times.

“You just think of the beach crowds, and the waves are almost secondary,” he said. “It’s more about the beach scene. It’s always a good place to come. I’ve seen heaps of people I haven’t seen for years. The industry kind of lives around here, it’s like past and present, you reconnect with it all.”

And then, there’s the future. His 18-year-old daughter, Sierra Kerr, is making waves on the Challenger Series as well, the duo traveling together through the year and doing the same events, two generations surfing the same contest series — something that may have never been done before.

“The baton has been passed,” he said. “I have no dreams (to get back on tour). I sleep well at night, it doesn’t matter what happens in a heat for me. But to be here and support her goals, just get out there and see what old dad has got going on.”

He was all smiles as his daughter took the top spot in her heat with a high 7.17 after doing an air reverse, above the lip of the wave, the young surfer part of a next generation of female wave riders who are pushing limits.

“It was tough out there, I was just hoping for a couple, just trying to make something unique happen,” said Sierra Kerr, who grew up in Carlsbad, but now spends most of her time in Australia.

A swell should bring more energy to the ocean by the weekend, with waves on the final day, Sunday, expected to be in the 4-foot range.

When the contest resumes, Long Beach’s Nolan Rapoza hits the water in the first heat of the Round of 64, with Andino in Heat 5.

Two-time US Open of Surfing winner Kanoa Igarashi surfs in Heat 8 and Vaast competes again in Heat 9. San Clemente surfers Kade Matson and Jett Schilling will face off against one another.

In the women’s competition, last year’s winner Sally Fitzgibbons competes in the first heat, Kerr in the second heat, followed by Kirra Pinkerton in Heat 3 and Sawyer Lindblad in Heat 4.

San Clemente surfers Edan Walla and Bella Kenworthy are among the last surfers in the Round of 32 matchups.

More info: worldsurfleague.com