OC surfers dominate as main men’s event begins at U.S. Open of Surfing

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Kanoa Igarashi looked out at the water at Huntington Beach, where a year ago he was hoisted above the cheering crowd of thousands of people, a victorious day that marked the pinnacle of his professional surfing career to date.

“I think about it nearly every day. It’s one of those things, I get chicken skin just thinking about it,” Igarashi said on Monday morning. “That moment is so vivid and clear to me. I have a photo of that moment in my living room. It’s hard not to think about it.”

Igarashi, 20, will once again go up against some of the world’s best surfers in his hometown of Huntington Beach at the U.S. Open of Surfing this week, the reigning champ hoping for a repeat performance to his 2017 win.

But with small surf in the forecast – and hungry surfers who have traveled from around the world to compete at the prestigious event – the U.S. Open of Surfing title is anyone’s to clinch.

The men’s main event began Monday in 2- to 3-foot surf, with surfers struggling to find waves on the south side of the pier.

San Clemente surfers started strong and continued to dominate throughout the day. The trials for the women’s main event were held early Monday with local surfer Kirra Pinkerton earning a wild card slot in the World Tour event. Pinkerton will face current World No. 1 Stephanie Gilmore and defending U.S. Open champ Sage Erickson when competition begins.

Fellow San Clementian Kei Kobayashi, 19, won the first heat of the men’s event, then repeated a first-place finish as he competed a second time later in the day in Round 2, earning a 7.17 and 6.13 to win his second heat.

“The waves were pretty small and there was a good (shorebreak) on the inside, I figured I’d stay busy,” he said. “I’m just surfing heat by heat and trying to stay in the zone. I’m really stoked to make it through another heat.”

Santa Barbara surfer Parker Coffin got an early start in his heat, putting two scores on the board, a 6.50 and a 3.83.

Nearly halfway through the 30-minute heat, he was the only competitor with a score on the board, the other three surfers sitting and waiting, looking out to the flat ocean.

“That was pretty much the story of that heat, I was the only one that caught a real wave,” he said. “The first wave was everything… when it’s slow, you gotta not be nice and take your wave.”

Hawaiian surfer Keanu Asing had the same strategy, staying close to find small-wave opportunities.

“I knew if I could find two good turns, I could get a score,” he said.

This week’s small surf could give locals who know these waves an advantage.

“Huntington is a place where it’s always going to produce waves,” said Igarashi, who will surf his first heat when the men’s event resumes. “We’re so lucky to live in a place, no matter how small the forecast is, the waves are there and it’s always contestable. That’s an advantage we have as locals. We surf on days like this all the time, we know how to read the waves. To be honest, it may even benefit us more.”

San Clemente surfer Kolohe Andino is no stranger to Huntington’s surf, competing here regularly as an amateur as he moved up the ranks. Andino, 24, used his local knowledge to keep busy and put scores on the board, leading the pack throughout his Round 2 heat.

He kept busy, riding 11 waves and posting high scores of 6.4 and 6.23, despite a strong wind chop that made for challenging conditions.

“I was just trying to ride a bunch of waves. My plan wasn’t to look at the biggest ones, but the ones with the best shape. The bigger ones closed out … I was just trying to analyze the wall.”

Two more San Clemente surfers, Tanner Gudauskas and Griffin Colapinto, also advanced out of Round 2.

“It’s a bit lackluster, but honestly it did look really fun,” Gudauskas said. “There’s a little bit of juice in the water and I was just excited to ride a lot of waves out there. That’s what my goal was even though I didn’t know which waves were good or bad and it all worked out for the best. It’s all a state of mind and when you have a bunch of people looking down from the pier you realize this is the big show so for us on the QS it’s great to have these big events.”

Colapinto nearly matched the day’s highest single-wave score (7.83), finishing second in his heat to Hawaii’s Joshua Moniz, who turned in the day’s top heat total (14.57) and single-wave score (7.90).

Organizers will assess conditions early Tuesday morning to determine who will compete. More info: vansusopenofsurfing.com