Competition heats up

Mike Sciacca

The heat is on at the Bank of the West Beach Games featuring the

Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill.

The world’s largest surfing competition kicks into high gear today

and continues through the weekend, culminating with the women’s

championship final on Saturday and the men’s final on Sunday.

Today, Holly Beck, one of the top pros in the world and the

president of International Women’s Surfing, surfs for the first time.

She will surf in the fourth heat, scheduled to start at 9 a.m.

The 24-year-old, who has surfed the U.S. Open since she was 17,

said the luster of the event never fades.

“It’s always great to surf a home contest and one that is

essentially the biggest in the world,” said Beck, who was raised in

Palos Verdes but now lives in Redondo Beach. “The crowds are awesome,

and that’s what makes this contest so cool. I’ll also be able to surf

in front of my family and friends, sponsors and magazines.”

Back to defend the men’s title is Taj Burrow of Australia.

Burrow, who surfed his first heat Wednesday, won the U.S. Open for

the first time last year.

“It’s great to be back,” he said. “It’s special here because the

atmosphere is so awesome. The surf was small last year, but I think

the best thing about that contest was the crowd. It was just amazing.

“I’m confident that I can win it again. There are a lot of good

guys out there, though, and everyone is hungry for it.”

Today’s surfing action features the men’s round of 96, heats 19

through 24, and the women’s round of 48, heats 1 through 12.

Also today, the Festival Village opens; Teen Vogue Fashion Live!

unfolds at the concert stage; and skate practices will take place at

the Phillips Key Ring Soul Bowl.

With the early rounds of men’s, women’s and juniors action

dominating the $185,000 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing last weekend, the

men’s competition took the spotlight Monday with the round of 192 of

the six-star World Qualifying Series event.

Jano Belo came up big during Monday’s men’s competition, recording

the top heat score of the day.

The Brazilian scored 16.34 out of a possible 20 points during his

heat in choppy conditions with two- to three-foot swells.

Patrick Gudauskas of San Clemente came up with consistent rides in

heat No. 4 and posted an overall score of 15.34 for his two

highest-scoring waves.

Dane Reynolds of Ventura was right behind Gudauskas with a score

of 15.33 in heat No. 7, but did manage to score the day’s highest

single wave to that point, an 8.50 on a 10-point scale.

Eric Geiselman of Florida, using speed turns and pocket surfing,

scored an 8.50 on his second wave and ended up with a heat score of

15.83 to set the pace.

But it was Belo in heat No. 22 who turned heads, using powerful

maneuvers and a clear-cut command of the waves to score his 16.34.

Monday marked a first for the U.S. Open as Frederico Pilurzo of

Italy competed for the first time.

Pilurzo won his heat with 11.87 points.

Several Japanese (Tanaka Hideyoshi, Teppei Tajima and Izuki

Tanaka), Australian (Yadin Nicol, Leigh Sedley, Nic Muscroft, Jay

Thompson, Samba Mann, Ben Dunn, Anthony Walsh, Corey Ziems, Josh

Kerr, Josh Fuller, Zahn Foxton, Yerin Brown, Michael Spencer and Jock

Barnes) and Brazilian (Beto Fernandes, Dunga Neto and Heitor Pereira)

surfers fared well and advanced to Tuesday’s round of 144.

American surfers also were in the mix as Tyler Fox, Aptos, Calif.;

Austin Ware, Encinitas, Calif.; Dane Gudauskas, San Clemente; Alek

Parker, Melbourne Beach, Fla.; Nathan Yeomans, San Clemente; Eric

Taylor, Vero Beach, Fla.; and Bobby Morris, Santa Barbara all

advanced.

On Tuesday, the seasoned veterans shined at the pier.

Men’s 2001 U.S. Open champion Rob Machado advanced out of his heat

with a score of 11.27, but it was Geilseman who won the heat with a

score of 15.00.

Also winning heats Tuesday were Kieren Perrow from Australia, Dean

Randazzo of New Jersey and Shea Lopez from Florida.

The day’s best wave score Tuesday went to Corey Ziems of

Australia, who scored a 9.00, and Royden Bryson of South Africa

compiled the best two-wave heat total with a combined score of 16.50.

Burrow and former world champions Andy Irons and Sunny Garcia,

both from Hawaii, and 2003 U.S. Open champion Corey Lopez of Florida

competed for the first time on Wednesday.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at [email protected].