Wet 'N' Wild with Rockin' Fig: - Los Angeles Times
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Wet ‘N’ Wild with Rockin’ Fig:

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The National Scholastic Surfing Assn.’s National Championships have been going big time at Lower Trestles since Tuesday with some heavy elimination rounds and will continue on till Saturday’s finals.

All the younger divisions have surfed or will be surfing trying to win those prestigious national titles in mini groms’, Menehunes’, boys’, juniors’, men’s, women’s and long boarding in Explorer and Open season divisions. This is a showcase of the hot, up-and-coming wealth of U.S. surfing talent from around the nation.

The super big show finals, the women’s Governor’s Cup, will be at 4:15 p.m. Saturday and the men’s right after, at 4:50, to conclude the week’s hot, ripping surfing action. The results will be top secret till the banquet at the Hyatt in Huntington Beach on Sunday night.

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Good luck to all the competitors; it should be fun.

Speaking of fun, it’s getting close — less than 30 days — till the $145,000 Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing in Surf City.

Mark the dates on the calendar, July 18 to 26. To make this one of the greatest U.S. Opens ever, Hurley got the All Star vote going for everyone’s top surfers to be invited to the surf event through the Internet.

Here’s the All Star line-up: nine-time world champ Kelly Slater, plus other world champs, the “Speedster,” Aussie Mick Fanning, former winner C. J. Hobgood, and three-time world champ and event winner from Hawaii, Andy Irons. Plus other standouts like the barrel specialist Bruce Irons, the “Rad Man” Dane Reynolds, the crowd favorite, a three-time Open winner, trying to make it four, Rob Machado, Australian aerialist and former winner Taj Burrow, plus hot ASP tour rookie South African Jordy Smith and the always-going-for-it Yadin Nicol will be there.

Whoa, plus Huntington Beach hotties Brett Simpson, who last year made it to the semis, Chris Waring, who got to the quarters, pier terror Shaun Ward and Micah Byrne, to name a few locals.

And more shralpers: former world champ Sunny Garcia, the points leader Aussie Owen Wright, Cory and Shea Lopez, Hawaiian shredders Kalani Robb and Mason Ho, San Clemente’s brother combo Pat and Dane Gudauskas and Mike Losness plus up-and-coming hotties Nat Young from Santa Cruz, Newport’s Andrew Doheny, Hawaii’s Kai Barger, Capo’s Luke Davis and San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino. And that’s only part of the star-studded field at this event.

I’ll be announcing the Nationals at Lowers this week; that marks my 20th year milestone. See you there.

Over and out.


RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.

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