HIGH PERFORMANCE START TO 6.0 LOWERS PRO DAY ONE
SAN CLEMENTE, California (April 29, 2008) – The 6.0 Lowers Pro
commenced competition this morning in clean two-to-three foot surf at
Lower Trestles, California and Day 1 saw the famed cobblestone pointbreak
play host to some of the most dynamic surfing of the season. The Association
of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4-Star event
completed the opening round of competition today as well as the first
nine heats of Round 2.
Shane Beschen
Shane Beschen (San Clemente, CA), a four-time past champion of the ASP
WQS event at Lower Trestles (1992, 1993, 1996, 2004) and former world
runner-up on the ASP World Tour, proved why he is the man to beat at
the venue, posting a solid 14.33 out of a possible 20 to advance through
to Round 3.
"I'm just going out and having fun and want to keep making
heats," Beschen said. "It looks like some swell is
on the forecast too, and I'm looking forward to a good event."
Jason Collins (Santa Cruz, CA) was another standout surfer today, amassing
an impressive 17.16 points out of a possible 20 in his Round 1 heat before
advancing through to Round 3 (behind Beschen) this afternoon.
"The waves are pretty good today – better than I thought
they would be as I thought it would be flat," Collins said. "I'm
riding a Stretch epoxy and it seemed to be working really well today
so hopefully I can keep getting a couple of good waves each heat and
have a good event."
Jason "Ratboy" Collins
Zach Keenan (Cardiff, CA), a veteran campaigner on the ASP WQS, put his
years of competitive experience to use today, winning both his Round
1 and Round 2 heats. Keenan dropped an impressive single wave score of
a 9.17 out of a possible 10 for a series of blistering rail gouges and
will look to the generated momentum to his advantage in Round 3.
"I usually have a better seed, but I only did a couple of contests
last year," Keenan said. "I definitely think it's
important to get into a rhythm early on in an event, especially at a
wave like Lowers. It helps to get into a groove in the earlier
rounds to get your form up. That way you're able to continue
that rhythm in the later rounds when it really matters."
Kyle Ramey (Poipu Beach, HAW), utilizing his progressive blend of new
school wizardry, smashed his Round 2 heat choosing the clean Lowers righthanders
to unleash his impressive forehand attack.
"I'm feeling pretty good, my boards are going good, and the
surf is a lot bigger than it has been," Ramey said. "I'm
just going to try to get good waves, go big, do some big turns, and get
some good scores in the rest of the event."
Brent Dorrington (Coolangatta, AUS), last season's Oakley Pro Junior
at Lowers Champion, has graduated from the ASP Pro Junior Series onto
the ASP WQS, and proved he is ready for the challenge, dominating his
Round 1 heat today.
"I'm feeling good and I've got a few good boards right
now, so I'm stoked," Dorrington said. "I really like
this wave, and I got a couple of good ones today. I'm just looking
to go heat by heat to try and advance through the next rounds."
With Dorrington now competing exclusively on the ASP WQS, a new champion
will be crowned in this season's ASP Grade-2 Oakley Pro Junior,
which begins competition on Friday, May 2, 2008.
In addition to the importance of helping surfers qualify for the prestigious
ASP World Tour, the 6.0 Lowers Pro also kick starts the 2008 Macy's
California Trifecta Surf Series (an ASP North America Specialty Series). The
event at Lowers will see all three past Trifecta Champions in Asher Nolan
(Jacksonville Beach, FL), Nathan Yeomans (San Clemente, CA) and Adam
Virs (Ventura, CA) all donning competition jerseys in the coming days
so the Surf Series is looking at an explosive start.
The ASP WQS 4-Star 6.0 Lowers Pro will recommence tomorrow morning at
8 a.m. with Heat 10 of Round 2.
In addition to title sponsor Nike 6.0, the 6.0 Lowers Pro is happy to
have support from Red Bull, Oakley, SURFER, SURFING, WaveWatch and FUEL
TV.
All 6.0 Lowers Pro action is being webcast LIVE via www.nike6lowerspro.com
WaveWatch.com Forecast for Wed., April 30
Wednesday will be another challenging surf day...the mix of onshore winds
and bumpy conditions will continue as strong gusts in the outer waters
keep the coastal eddy spinning over the inner waters. Surfwise it will
be a mix of WNW windswell and leftover S-SW swell through most of the
morning. Expect waist-chest high surf on most of the average waves
while the standout sets see some shoulder high+ sets. Conditions will
start out a bit sloppier than Tuesday. Look for S winds around 10 knots
through the morning. Those winds shift SW and increase to 10-15 knots
by lunchtime and eventually top out around 15-20 knots by the afternoon.
There is one piece of good forecast news though...New long-period SW
swell (200-220) starts to arrive late in the day, showing mostly on
the buoys at first, and then will start to fill in more on Thursday...eventually
peaking Friday and into Saturday, (right as the conditions start to
improve.)
6.0 Lowers Pro – ASP WQS 4-Star
Round 1: 192 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.67, Johnny Craft (USA) 11.17, Tom Rezvan
(USA) 10.35, David Giddings (USA) 9.67
Heat 2: Alek Parker (USA) 13.00, Javier Swayne (PER) 9.90, Shane Murray
(USA) 6.33, Kento Takahashi (JPN) 6.03
Heat 3: Zach Keenan (USA), 12.20, Kawika Stillwell (HAW), 11.70 Jamie
Parkhurst (USA) 8.10, Toshiyuki Takatsu (JPN) 2.17
Heat 4: Peter Mussio (USA) 12.26, Chris Drummy (USA), 11.90, Kyle Kennelly
(USA) 9.04, Eddie Lester (USA), 6.97
Heat 5: Richie Collins (USA) 11.50, Daisuke Suzuki (JPN) 7.30, Riley
Metcalf (USA) 6.66, Sage Huls (HAW) 6.06
Heat 6: Solomon Ortiz (HAW) 13.60, David Gonsalves (HAW) 11.00, David
Post (USA) 9.23
Tommy Bursian (PRI) 8.40
Heat 7: Jason Collins (USA) 17.16, Austin Smith Ford (USA) 13.60, Justin
Swartz (USA) 11.00, Matt Meola (USA) 8.26
Heat 8: Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 11.50, Gabriel Escudero (PRI) 8.83, Jordan
Gaudet (USA) 7.17, Justin Jones (USA) 5.94
Heat 9: Brent Reilly (USA) 11.50, Omar Etcheverry (USA)10.83, Leif Engstrom
(USA) 10.83, Andrew Doheny (USA) 10.17
Heat 10: Zach Plopper (USA) 10.27, Nick Skawinski (USA) 8.77, Ian Rotgans
(USA) 8.63, Scott Hammonds (USA) 7.20
Heat 11: Eric Worley (USA)12.00, Rikiya Kitada (JPN)11.67, Dennis Rizzo
(USA) 9.33, Thomas Petriken (USA) 5.20
Heat 12: Dillon Perillo (USA) 11.17, Colin Schildhauer (USA) 7.63, Masahiro
Tooda (JPN) 6.74
Dallas Peterson (AUS) 3.26
Heat 13: Roger Eales (USA) 11.14, Albee Layer (HAW) 10.53, Cody Thompson
(USA) 10.27, Rico Jimenez (HAW) 3.67
Heat 14: Jensen Callaway (USA) 11.50, Matt Myers (USA) 9.57, Ben Graeff
(USA) 7.10 Rory Parker (HAW) 5.33
Heat 15: Brent Dorrington (AUS) 15.00, Jason Harris (USA) 11.50, Andrew
Bennett (USA) 9.17
Matt Pagan (USA) 6.33,
Heat 16: Phillip Goold (USA) 12.70, Adam Lambert (USA) 12.40, Chase Newsome
(USA) 10.27, Luke Davis (USA) 7.90
Round 2: 160 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.10, Jacob Kirshenbaum (USA) 10.47, Javier
Swayne (PER) 9.90, Golden Depesa (HAW) 6.67
Heat 2: Johnny Craft (USA) 13.6, Alek Parker (USA) 13.34, Brandon Guilmette
(USA) 10.40, Billy Kemper (HAW) 9.25
Heat 3: Zach Keenan (USA) 15.67, Jesse Heilman (USA) 13.23, Chris Drummy
(USA) 11.43,
Tony Adams (USA) 11.00
Heat 4: Parrish Byrne (AUS) 14.43, Peter Mussio (USA) 10.96, Kawika Stillwell
(HAW) 9.70, Michael Bailey (USA) 8.50
Heat 5: Kiron Jabour (HAW) 11.10, Richie Collins (USA) 9.33, Alex Kamkoff
(VEN) 5.24, David Gonsalves (HAW) 3.67
Heat 6: Kyle Ramey (HAW) 16.00, Chris Abad (USA) 14.27, Solomon Ortiz
(HAW) 11.23, Daisuke Suzuki (JPN) 8.60
Heat 7: Shane Beschen (USA) 14.33, Jason Collins (USA) 13.00, Gabriel
Escudero (PRI) 6.70
Casey Landvogt (USA) 6.56
Heat 8: Rylan McCart (USA) 14.50, Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 13.87, Austin
Smith-Ford (USA) 10.37
Heat 9: Brent Reilly (USA) 15.00, Adam Wickwire (USA) 12.10, Nat Young
(USA) 11.67, Nick Skawinski (USA) 6.17 |
