3rd Annual DRCF Freeze For A Cause Finally Takes
Flight By Jon Coen; Photos by Donald
Cresitello
TURF: 3rd
Annual Dean Randazzo Cancer Foundation Freeze For A Cause; Casino Pier, Seaside
Heights, NJ; March 6th, 2010
ENERGY: Due
to the El Nino pattern and the strength of the southern jet stream, every low-pressure
system this winter has tracked south, which means north swells for the Mid-Atlantic
— and a lot of them. This is tricky for holding a contest, because in
this pattern, you might have 40-knot northeast winds and ten-foot chop, or
nothing at all. There’s no one- to three-foot glassy trade swell in the winter.
Once the swell is over, the west winds blow it flat until the next tempest.
Originally postponed from
February, when a massive blizzard contributed to a record-breaking snowfall
season, Freeze For A Cause finally went off during a run of bounce-back swell
from another nor’easter. After some ragged sideshores in the morning, the wind
went northwest in the afternoon, producing amazing three- to five-foot lines on
an unseasonably warm day after a brutal winter.
FIRST TIME AT FIGHT CLUB: Brother of mysto-surfer Brendan Willem, Connor Willem
is a relative newcomer to the elite ranks of New Jersey surfing. While the
Ocean City crew of similar age has gotten most of the attention throughout
their high school days, Willem has turned on recently, winning last fall’s NSSA
Northeast High School Surfing Championships. Smooth surfing and solid hits got
him to the final here, where he took 5th-place.
SLIDE: How
fitting that the Freeze For A Cause fell on the same day as the Seaside Heights
Polar Bear Plunge… Here’s an event where over 3000 yahoos from North Jersey all jump
in the 35-degree ocean to benefit the Special Olympics and are blitzed before
their genitalia grow back to full size. Nothing brings Bergen County cops and
biker chicks in bikinis together like the now-infamous Seaside Heights. Yet both
events are based on diving into frigid water for a charity. Both lead to
excessive drinking. And surfing in a 5-mil feels a lot like the Special
Olympics.
Winter lineups are
traditionally a boys club north of Jacksonville. You do find more females in
the water in March these days, but unfortunately the only two who showed up
were Kim and Jill Kepich — two girls who aren’t afraid of a little chill
and dominated the Open Women’s division by default.
Sam Hammer won in Open Longboard.
Yes, that’s right — the Godfather of Casino Pier basically threw a
borrowed log around like it was a chippy Dan Taylor shortboard to take the
victory. He might have won the Open Shortboard too, if he’d landed a frontside
360 air attempt (or if he hadn’t started drinking at noon). The Hammer family
hosted the raucous fundraiser afterparty that evening at their Crab's Claw Inn. And
there was zero prizemoney at this year’s Freeze For A Cause. The heaviest
shredders in the state surfed on behalf of Dean Randazzo, and another $6,000
was raised for athletes battling cancer.
THE PAIN: None.
Seriously. Other than a little hypothermia for the Polar Bear Plungers, maybe.
THE MAN: Undoubtedly,
Matt Keenan. Keenzo’s brother-in-law Nick Demeglio recently lost a yearlong
battle with brain cancer. In the last few months, Keenan’s sister had to leave
work to treat her husband. The Foundation provided support in that time. In
turn, this was more than a surf contest for the Keenan family.
Matt waltzed to the finals
and was straight butter, executing multiple turns on the lefts and backside
cracks on the rights for an 8.5 and an 8. Rob Kelly brought some vertical
innovation and four frontside cracks to one wave in the final as well, but was
edged out by Keenan, 16.5 to 15.5.
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB: “I thought I was going to
get slaughtered, so I figured I’d just go big. Every time I paddled back out I
saw Sam, Rob, and Keenan upside down on backside hits.” –5th-place
Open Shortboard finisher Connor Willem, on joining the prestigious Garden State
comp crew
“They said on the news that
today was the first day over 50 degrees in 97 days.” –4th-place
Open Shortboard finisher (and Florida transplant) Josh Wilson
“This whole year, my surfing
is dedicated to my sister’s husband. He just died of cancer. The Dean Randazzo
Cancer Foundation really helped her out when she had to leave work those last
two months. They paid her rent. It means a lot. –Open Shortboard champion and
class act Matt Keenan
“I knew I shouldn’t have
lent him that board.” –Tom “Masochist” Forkin on Sam Hammer ruling
the Open Longboard final
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 3rd ANNUAL DEAN RANDAZZO CANCER
FOUNDATION FREEZE FOR A CAUSE:
OPEN SHORTBOARD 1. Matt Keenan
2. Rob Kelly
3. Sam Hammer
4. Josh Wilson
5. Connor Willem
6. Bryan Zinski
OPEN WOMENS 1. Kim Kepich
2. Jill Kepich
OPEN LONGBOARD 1. Sam Hammer
2. Jerry Mathews
3. Joe Gillen
4. Bob O’Donnell
5. Tom Forkin
6. Paul Guinta
South Carolina’s Cam Richards Steals 12th Annual
Tommy Tant Memorial Classic Men’s Pro Title From Florida Vets; Cody Thompson, Amy Nicholl,
Noah Schweizer, And Dan Worley Also Win Big
VQS
HITS THE JACKPOT AT CASINO PIER Jellyfish Surf Series Winners Include Local Boys
Hammer, Schmidt, Vanaman, And Siganos, Along With Florida Girl Emily Ruppert
DUBIOUS RECORD The WRV
Outer Banks Pro Presented By Hurley Offers Locals Genuine Perspective & More
Money Per Square Foot Of Wave Than Any Surf Contest In History
Sweetwater Leaves It Up To The Grom At Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier; “Uncle” Andrew Gesler Drives Heritage Win Home In Northeast
By Matt Pruett and Nick McGregor;
Photos by Matt Lusk
