With just a few minutes left, Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi paddled into a massive wave, knowing he needed to go big to overtake his opponent, an in-form Yago Dora who dominated the entire final heat with his high-flying performance during the Trestles Pro.
In the end, the local surfer didn’t get the score he needed for the win — but for Igarashi, the stellar second-place finish was one he was proud of as he talked about competing in front of his hometown supporters.
“I never get to compete in front of my friends, so that was something really special. The US Open has always been that event for me,” said Igarashi, who has twice won the Open in his hometown. “It’s so special, looking up and seeing my parents and seeing them, there’s nothing really quite like it. It’s a real gratitude feeling I had throughout the finals day.”
In the women’s final, it was Bettylou Sakura Johnson who overtook the top women for the win, the Hawaiian surfer sharing her recipe for success.
“The secret is just staying happy and being surrounded by your loved ones,” she said after besting Australian Molly Picklum.
Surf fans on Saturday, June 14, made the pilgrimage down to Lower Trestles, a surf spot just south of San Clemente in San Onofre State Beach, to get an up-close look at the world’s best surfers battling it out at the Lexus Trestles Pro.
San Clemente resident Marin Lizzie found a perfect spot on a sandy ledge to take in the action while her three kids cruised around the contest site, playing in the tide pools, trying to find free swag and soaking in the sea-salt scene.
“Does it get any better?” she asked as the current women’s world champion, Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers, weaved her way across a wave just a few yards in front of the crowd. “It’s like a free Super Bowl, we can just bike down, walk down … it’s amazing. The kids are getting autographs left and right.”
The surf break returned as a World Surf League tour stop this year, rather than hosting the one-day WSL Final 5 championship as it has the past four Septembers.
The three-day Trestles Pro kicked off Monday, with pro surfers lingering around the surf town all week, catching waves at local beaches among everyday surfers, hosting movie premieres and parties, spending time at home before resuming their competitive season around the world.
“The kids have been surfing with the pros all week, it’s like a front-row seat — they are watching the best in the world.,” said Lisa Tassin, of San Clemente, whose 12-year-old daughter has been mingling in the water with the world’s best surfers.
While waves were beefy and allowed for plenty of surf excitement throughout the event, the swell picked up even more for the finals day on Saturday, with sets upward of 8 feet, even larger as the swell filled in throughout the day.
The morning saw several local surfers eliminated, including gold medalist and world champ Caroline Marks, who earned a high 8.20, but without a second score, saw an exit early in the morning. The Florida surfer, who now lives in San Clemente, faced a fierce Johnson, who earned a high 17.83 with an 8.83 and a 9-point ride.
San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto overtook rookie Joel Vaughan in the quarterfinals, with Dora earning his spot in the semifinals after doing a huge rotation in the air and disappearing into the whitewash, the crowd erupting as he reappeared.
San Clemente’s Cole Houshmand used his power surfing in his quarterfinal heat against Australian Jack Robinson. On his first wave, Houshmand was able to do eight huge power hacks. Robinson earned a high 9, but with a low second score, was eliminated, Houshmand earning his spot in the semifinals.
In the women’s semifinals, Simmers faced a fierce Molly Picklum, the Australian surfer posting a 9.60 on a huge set wave that had the crowd erupting.
“These girls are so amazing, they are just so amazing pushing the boulderies,” Lizzie said. “They are going gnarlier younger, and pushing each other.”
Simmers, who won her world title at the same spot in September, couldn’t get the score she needed.
“Surfing against (Simmers) is fun, but also hard, you never know what’s going to happen,” Picklum said. “I was never comfortable, that’s for sure.”
San Clemente’s Sawyer Lindblad, who entered the event as a wild card, faced Johnson, who maintained her dominance and earned a spot in the finals.
Colapinto faced Dora in the semifinals, the two going blow for blow, until Dora took to the air with just a few minutes left on the clock to win the heat, solidifying his spot in the finals against Igarashi.
Childhood friend Johnny Elles held up a banner reading “Go Kanoa,” joined by a group of supporters who made the trek down south to support Igarashi.
“It’s so epic, he’s looking in form,” Elles said. “Everything with his surfing looks good, his air game looks good, so I think he has a good chance of taking it pretty far. It’s in our backyard here … Kanoa has grown up here surfing his whole life, so he knows this spot like the back of his hands, so we’re just glad to be down here and show support.”
Igarashi and Robinson faced off in the semifinals, Igarashi throwing huge buckets off the water as he hacked his way down a right-hand wave, earning a high score of 8.77, backing up his already high 8.33. Robinson needed a high 9.03, Igarashi using strategy to block him from going on a big wave.
With just seconds on the clock, Robinson paddled into his 12th wave, doing big turns and finishing it by landing a huge air, the crowd waiting in anticipation for the score as the surfers made their way toward shore.
It would be 1-point short – a score of 8.03, sending Igarashi a ticket into the final 40-minute match up.
But first, Johnson and Picklum battled it out in the women’s finals.
Johnson got one of the biggest waves of the day, navigating her way down the face, slashing a huge hack to end the wave and earn a 9-point ride, backing up an 8.0 for a high 17-point score.
Picklum earned an 8.3, but as the clock ticked down, Johnson took the win and the women’s Trestles Pro title.
There was nothing to lose, Johnson said, with the goal of trying to get to the top five rankings for a chance at the WSL Final 5.
“Taking it wave by wave, keeping it simple,” she said. “But yeah — bring it on.”
In the men’s final, Dora wasted no time. With just seconds off the clock, he punted high above a wave and, spinning in the air without grabbing his board, he landed and continued the wave with huge turns. The reward: a massive 9.53 score.
Igarashi earned a 7.33 to put a score on the board, but Dora kept busy to stay in the lead. Dora took flight over and over, with each wave widening the score gap and putting Igarashi in need of a near-perfect score.
An 8.30 helped Igarashi’s situation, but he still needed to better his score for the win, so he went to the sky for a flip, keeping his speed and then riding his surfboard backwards, fins up in front. Unfortunately, the wave didn’t hold up for more opportunities, and his scoreline didn’t better – and he had to head to shore after his board broke, needing a quick replacement.
Igarashi had a few more attempts as the clock ticked down, but in the end it was the Brazilian surfer who was raised above the crowd, his country flag flying, with the win.
“It’s really cool, I waited a long time for a chance to compete in this event,” said Dora following his win in front of thousands of surf fans. “I just can’t believe it, so stoked… I wanted to win this event for so many years.”
Igarashi said surfing Lower Trestles with just one other person out in the water is “pretty special in itself.”
“We came to California and got blessed with amazing waves,” he said. “Thank you to the surf gods. … Lowers is such a special place.”
He reminisced about being on the podium at the same location during his younger years competing in amateur contests with USA Surfing championships.
“It’s crazy, time flies and Lowers continues to be one of the best waves in the world,” Igarashi said. “Some things never change.”