Gorkin Makes It Four For Five In ECSC’s Last
Half-Decade By Jeanne-Marie DeStefano
TURF: 47th
Annual East Coast Surfing Championships Presented By Coastal Edge and Vans; 2nd
Street, Virginia Beach, VA; August 27th-30th
ENERGY: With
Tropical Storm Danny providing consistent swell, Mother Nature keeping the
skies clear, and sponsors like Coastal Edge and Vans providing more surf, skate,
and BMX pros than you can shake a stick at, it’s safe to say the oldest running
surfing contest in the United States outdid itself this year. Of course, having
a Bud Light beer garden right on the sand didn’t hurt, especially since it was
conveniently located between the stage that hosted bikini contests and the actual
contest site. For those not quite old enough to partake, there were dozens of
tents set up on the south end of the boardwalk, giving away schwag and
spray-painting logos on any willing skin. Imagine the Surf Expo, but with less
clothes and more Mainlanders. Yet even the more seasoned competitors applauded
this year’s setup. “This was the most uniquely done ECSC I’ve ever seen,” said
Brian Macon, 4th-place Grand Masters finisher. “[Contest director] Paul West
and his staff did a great job.”
FIRST TIME
AT FIGHT CLUB: Stand-up paddleboarding continued to make its presence
known at competitive East Coast surfing venues. “There’s a lot of negativity
associated with SUP,” said 2nd-place finisher Rick Romano. “Thanks to the ECSC
for including it — hopefully it will be embraced here as it is in
Hawaii.” Speaking of Hawaii, what else can you find in Hawaii that you may not
see as prevalently on the East Coast yet? Chicks ripping harder than the boys.
Well, look no further than Vah Beach, as Alison Bowman and Katie Gordon were
the lone wahines in a sea of Menehune. Bowman advanced all the way to the
semifinals of the Menehune division, while Gordon ended up placing 4th. Beating
a guy in the lineup is nothing new to Melanie Bartels or Rochelle Ballard, but
are Bowman and Gordon the next maneaters from the Right Coast? Here’s hoping.
SLIDE: There
were an abundance of multi-division competitors at this year’s ECSC, including
Rob Kelly, Spencer Regan, Chip Clark, and Morgan Taylor Leavel, to name a few. But
South Carolina’s Cole Richards probably logged the most water time of all,
surfing the Open, Pro, and Pro Junior divisions. Not a bad strategy,
considering he surfed the best peak in Virginia Beach for 40 minutes straight
with only three other people, in two back-to-back heats, versus surfing with
100 or so frothers in the freesurf area.
THE PAIN: The
only storm cloud that passed over the event was a tragic boating accident that
happened on Friday. A sightseeing charter got caught in the rough surf, bobbing
up and down with so much force that a passenger got knocked into the water
during a Junior Men’s preliminary heat. Competition was halted for two and a
half hours as lifeguards (and uber-competitor Cole Richards) tried to rescue
the man.
On a less somber note, the
Pro Juniors final heat ended painfully for Ventura, CA’s, Spencer Regan. He
flew into VB a week early to get acquainted with 2nd Street, and seemed to be the
shoe-in to win as he wowed the crowd and judges with power carves, aerials, and
even a rare 2nd Street barrel. But interference calls early in the final heat
worked heavily against him, as they did against New York’s Balaram Stack,
allowing Garden State heavyweight Rob Kelly to keep the title from heading west.
“That was the heat I looked forward to the entire contest,” Paul West announced.
“They battled it out in deteriorating conditions and did a phenomenal job.”
THE MAN: Timing
its northeasterly trek perfectly with the ECSC schedule, Tropical Storm Dan the
Man passed a mere 150 miles off the Virginia coast, pumping in the best waves
the event has seen in years. Friday and Saturday saw the best pulse, with four
to five-foot righthanders providing a consistent canvas for the finest talent
on the East Coast. Conditions became increasingly smaller and slightly blown out
for Sunday’s finals, but there was never a total lack of waves to ride, and
nary a “Well, if there were waves, I could’ve [insert proclamation of highly
unlikely feat here]” complaint was heard. “It makes a huge difference to have a
solid swell,” said Wes Laine, who was inducted into the East Coast Surfing
Championships Hall of Fame along with Bobby Holland on Friday night. “Then the
surfing standard goes way up.”
New Smyrna Beach, FL’s, Nils
Schweizer took full advantage of Danny’s generosity in the Pro Men’s competition.
Nils pulled off an aerial hat trick in Saturday’s semis to advance into
Sunday’s second round, where he faced Ryan Helm, Rob Kelly, and last year’s ECSC
champion, Asher Nolan. Helm fought hard, countering nearly every one of Nolan’s
rights, but in the end, Schweizer and Nolan advanced. They were joined by
another New Smyrna local — and 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECSC Pro Men’s champ —
Aaron Cormican, along with Jacksonville, FL, darkhorse Wayne Satterwhite, Jr.
for an all-Sunshine State final. Conditions had deteriorated to the point where
the quartet couldn’t complete their maneuvers, but Cormican managed to pick off
a wide-open inside right, flying down the line to stick a no-grab air with
seconds left in the heat and snatch the victory from Nolan to reclaim his ECSC title.
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB: “That wasn’t me — it was a
wannabe, a poser.” –ECSC director Paul West, denying claims that
his picture was on the wall at a Virginia Beach fish taco restaurant
“Balaram’s staring at me
because I made him paddle back out. Don’t look at me Balaram — look at
the waves.” –Anonymous contest announcer, upon threatening Balaram with a lashing
from Matt Kechele if he cut his final heat short by two minutes
“Can you tell Mez that I
still want that picture where we’re shooting guns?” –Senior Women’s champion Liz
Hauser, hopefully not describing a first date
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 47TH ANNUAL EAST COAST SURFING
CHAMPIONSHIPS
PRO 1. Aaron Cormican, $2500
2. Asher Nolan, $1000
3. Nils Schweizer, $800
4. Wayne Satterwhite, Jr.,
$600
PRO WOMEN 1. Karina Petroni, $1000
2. Connie Arias, $500
3. Lauren McLean, $400
4. Kayla Beckmann, $300
PRO JUNIOR 1. Rob Kelly, $1000
2. Cole Richards, $500
3. Spencer Regan, $400
4. Balaram Stack, $300
PRO LONGBOARD 1. Mikey DeTemple, $1000
2. Justin Quintal, $500
3. Alex Strangeways, $400
4. Mike Melchiorre, $300
PRO BODYBOARD 1. Mike Zeiner, $1000
2. Brian Stoehr, $500
3. Michael Bain, $400
4. Anthony Dellicarpini, $300
OPEN 1. Evan Barton
2. Raven Lundy
3. Cole Richards
4. Ken Hunt
OPEN LONGBOARD 1. Ty Roach
2. Chase Barrett
3. Bobby Holland
4. Carmen Garcia
MENEHUNE 1. Luke Marks
2. Eric Kaiser
3. Luke Gordon
4. Katie Gordon
BOYS 1. Corey Howell
2. Morgan Taylor Leavel
3. Julian Payne
4. Matthew Aycud
JUNIORS 1. Tanner Strohmenger
2. Jordan Heaselgrave
3. Evan Barton
4. Michael Delouise
JUNIOR WOMEN 1. Haley Watson
2. Emily Ruppert
3. Allison Parks
4. Caroline Duerr
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
