Quiksilver
King Of The Groms Refuses To Go Soft On The Kids At Typhoon Lagoon
By Nick McGregor
TURF: 2009 Quiksilver King Of The Groms; Typhoon Lagoon,
Orlando, FL; August 12th, 2009
ENERGY: An ominous foghorn blows. A guttural flush emerges
from the ground, sounding eerily like thunder. And then a mechanical four-foot
righthander rises up from the deep end of Typhoon Lagoon’s wave pool. True,
it’s not the most ideal location for a surf contest. But with the Atlantic
Ocean repeatedly denying contest organizer Matt Kechele the
opportunity to run his annual Quiksilver King Of The Groms contest at
Sebastian Inlet this June, July, and August, something had to give. “This year
we made the decision to move the KOG to the wave pool,” Kechele said. “Which
most would agree is the ultimate grom froth tank.” Luckily, Walt Disney World
cleared their private-rental calendar, adding a touch of late-evening magic to
the school-night proceedings.
FIRST TIME AT FIGHT
CLUB: With 38 entrants and
a finite number of waves available in the 7:30-11:30 pm timeframe, Kech had to
formulate an entirely new approach to the usual skins format: the Quiksilver
Skin Select. In the first round, each surfer got the chance to ride three waves
— not the ideal amount of practice for a freshwater wave breaking over a
concrete bottom, but given the circumstances, a decent compromise. Upon riding
his or her three waves, the surfer then exited the pool and signaled to the
judges which one to claim.
Once Round One was completed, Kech took the top 16
scores, reshuffled the draw, and let that whittled-down group of surfers catch
two more waves, again with the choice of which one to claim. As midnight
loomed, groms started yawning and parents started watching the clock, thinking
about their hour-plus drives home. Another round simply wasn’t feasible, so the
best score of Round Two took home an $850 1st-place prize, along with a plane
ticket to the King Of The Groms World Championships in Capbreton, France, this
September.
SLIDE: Kech gave the competitors a quick tutorial and let
three sample waves go by for the groms’ perusal before action got underway,
promptly after Typhoon Lagoon closed to the general public at 7:30 pm. East
Coast golden child and New Smyrna Beach prodigy Evan Geiselman drew the biggest
straw and surfed first, lodging the highest score of Round One (6.9) right off
the bat with four flawless backside turns. Merritt Island up-and-comer Sam
Duggan earned a 4.9 for three solid snaps, Ormond Beach grom Eros Exarhou
snagged a 4.6 for a late drop/pocket snap/closeout ollie combo, and Deerfield
Beach’s Tanner Strohmenger translated his recent growth spurt into man-sized
under-the-lip snaps for a 6.0. Volusia County darkhorses Cobie Gittner and Robbie
Merrill also made the Round Two cut with a 4.1 and 4.2, respectively, along
with Brevard County’s Corey Howell, who strung together a polished grab-rail
bottom turn and two committed backside hacks for a 5.3.
Nathan Colburn’s name recently surfaced from the New
Smyrna Beach shark pit, and he lived up to the hype by nailing a slick
tailslide to earn a 4.4. Fellow NSB ripper Noah Schweizer followed that performance
up with a 6.2 for a bangin’ frontside air in the shallows, and North Carolina’s
Julian Payne, the only out-of-state competitor present, threw up two clean
backside hacks for a 5.6. Lantana 16-year-old Christian Miller backed up his
recent ESM Who Da Guy profile with
two vertical backside snaps for a 5.1, and fellow WDG Luke Marks looked far
more mature than his 10 years with two smooth top turns for a 4.1. Hobe Sound
brothers Justin and Ryan Croteau earned a 4.9 and 5.2, respectively, while
fellow Treasure Coast groms Parker Greenwood and Nathan Behl both added their
names to the surf industry’s radar, Greenwood with a smooth floater for a 4.1
and Behl with surprisingly critical lip bashes and pocket snaps for a 5.6.
Round Two didn’t get underway until 11:00 pm, by
which time several of the younger groms started showing signs of fatigue, while
the older kids kept their composure and continued to surf with accuracy. The
unsponsored Behl again displayed 100% commitment on all of his turns, while
Duggan combined a clean full-wrap cutback with a closeout smash. Marks
displayed the buttery bottom turn/rail carve combo that earned him a spot in
this year’s NSSA Nationals Mini-Grom final, while Payne utilized the impeccable
form that helped him win the Rip Curl GromSearch OBX last weekend to pull off a
flawless backside vertical snap. Miller turned two lip bashes straight up to 12
o’clock, and Greenwood looked like he only had two fins in with a fancy slide
turn, but in the end the competition came down to Geiselman’s precise backside
snaps, Schweizer’s carving cutback to fins-out ollie, and Strohmenger’s
powerful tail slash punctuated by one of the few legitimate frontside airs of
the night. ESM Photo Editor Ryan
Gamma called Tanner’s ride the “wave of the event,” but in the end he earned a
6.15, falling short of Noah’s 6.63 and Evan’s contest-high 7.35, which clinched
the win.
THE PAIN: Although Kech estimated that only 10% of the gathered
groms had never surfed Typhoon Lagoon, several of the younger competitors
seemed intimidated by taking off on the rights directly next to a concrete staircase
— and many didn’t paddle hard enough to catch their limited amount of
waves. Ever the coach and mentor, Kech remained behind the action for the
duration of the event, helping contestants line up properly and offering advice
like “Hustle!” and “Paddle hard!” every time a wave emerged from the pool’s
belly. “I was really proud to pull off this event and help the groms unleash
some cooped-up energy that comes to a boil after long flat spells,” Kech said.
“I know I used to spazz out on my mother trying to get her to help serve up
some fun when I was a grom.”
THE MAN: Several days before the King Of The Groms, the rumor
started to spread that burgeoning international star Evan Geiselman would show
after a two-year absence to assert his dominance one last time over the
16-under field. When he quietly appeared with three boards in tow, a collective
groan went up amongst the less experienced competitors, but there’s one tried-and-true
way to improve your surfing: watch someone who’s better than you. “I actually
felt really confident out there, because when I was home in May right before a
trip, I came here two times in a week,” Geiselman said. “This event has been on
my calendar for a while, because I missed it the last two years.”
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT
FIGHT CLUB: “I was stoked that the groms
actually followed the rules out there. The Walt Disney staff was amazing and
hospitable, as you would expect from the leading theme-park industry icons.”
–Event organizer and Quiksilver East Coast kingpin Matt Kechele, breathing
a sigh of relief after expressing hesitance about nearly 40 carefree groms
having to follow a long list of Walt Disney World-enforced rules
“I want to go to Capbreton [for the King Of The Groms
World Championships] so bad — I was there last year, but I had to watch
from the beach, and that wave looked so fun.” –KOG champion Evan Geiselman, who,
despite a long dossier of international travel, contest results, and intense
media exposure, still knows what being a grom is all about
FINAL
RESULTS OF THE 2009 QUIKSILVER KING OF THE GROMS
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
