Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic Turns Ten, Gorkin Wins Again By Nick McGregor; Photos by Duce Smith
TURF: 10th Annual Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic; Flagler
Beach Pier, Flagler Beach, FL; October 10th-11th, 2009
ENERGY: With nary a ripple in sight leading up to the Tommy
Tant Memorial Surf Classic weekend, event organizer Will Tant was nervous to
say the least. But come Saturday morning, a knee to occasional waist-high bump
began filling in, proving that this Flagler Beach tradition truly has friends
in high places. “We never take it for granted, but Tommy always seems to give
us waves,” Will smiled. Although both days featured a fresh onshore breeze that
chopped up the swell on offer while also bringing relief to the unseasonably
scorching temperatures, early-afternoon high tides delivered enough punch to
make even the smallest wave contestable.
FIRST TIME
AT FIGHT CLUB: Not many newcomers in
the Tommy Tant’s 10th year, but the ever-popular Tadpoles division continues to
introduce young surfers to the joys of competition. This year, two-time Tadpoles
champion Noah Dovin was promoted to the Menehune big leagues, allowing newbies
like Madeline Lawson and Andrew Fossom to go up against established North
Florida sonogroms Kaleb Kirshenbaum and Noah Brownell. But in the end, last
year’s 3rd-place Tadpole, Shawn Arthur, Jr. of St. Augustine, walked away with
the 2009 trophy.
SLIDE: As in years past, the Tommy Tant Memorial Surf
Classic took on the air of a community event that just happened to have a surf
contest attached, with nearly all of the Flagler Pier boardwalk area taken over
by tents, booths, and, for three hours on Saturday, a food festival featuring
good eats from over 15 local restaurants. Homegrown artists Patrick Maxcy and
Austin Blasingame once again contributed with a live mural creation, this year
painting their masterpiece onto 30 skateboards that were then auctioned off
individually. In addition, Fuel TV screened an episode of their new show
“Firsthand” and Braddigan, Josh Garrels, and Jesse Hines contributed their feel-good
tunes to a Saturday evening concert.
But even with minimal swell, enough heated action spread
across 16 different divisions kept fans on the beach happy. St. Augustine
ripper Keto Burns smoked the Junior Men’s and Open Men’s finals, while local
girl Haley Watson won Junior Women’s and placed 3rd in both Open Women’s and
Pro Women’s. Up-and-coming New Smyrna Beach grom Noah Schweizer dominated the
Boys final, scoring the contest’s only perfect 10 on Saturday in addition to
advancing into the Men’s Pro semifinals, while Daytona Beach’s Cobie Gittner
won Menehunes, ESA Easterns champ Nikki Viesins claimed Girls, and Noel Malave
prevailed in Open Bodyboard.
Melbourne Beach wahine Jasset Umbel, who recently
beat some of California’s best female surfers in the Under 18 division of a
Surfing America Prime West event, doubled up for an Open Women’s win and a
$400 Pro Women’s victory, while St. Augustine’s Jennifer Lovelace won Open
Women’s Longboard, New Smyrna Beach grom Daniel Glenn bested a stacked Open
Men’s Longboard field, Jeff Lastinger won Masters, and Bob Lindsley repeated as
Grand Masters champion. Local boy Daniel Worley also defended his ’08 title, taking
home $200 in the Pro Bodyboard and cementing his legacy as a Tommy Tant
champion who can also say he helped to found the event back in 2000.
But the Pro Men’s division featured the tastiest
match-ups of the Tommy Tant, with the contest’s last four champions all angling
for space on the heat sheets. Jesse Hines, 2004 champion and the lone
out-of-state entrant in Pro Men’s, claimed he was just stoked to be on hand.
“This is not like a normal contest,” Hines said after winning his Round Two
heat. “It’s more like a hangout session, and I love hanging with Will and his
family.” 2005 and 2006 winner Jesse Heilman was also on hand to avenge his
interference call against last year’s champ Asher Nolan, while 2007 victor
Aaron Cormican kept his usual distance from the fray before blowing up during
each and every heat.
Unfortunately, Asher didn’t show on Sunday, leaving
Cormican and Heilman to reignite the rivalry they shared in 2007. Another
interesting entrant was East Coast legend and former ASP Top-16 standout Todd
Holland, who demolished several rights with his trademark power hacks before
getting put out in a “punt or go home” Semifinal #1 behind Hines and Nils
Schweizer. In Semifinal #2, Heilman, Cormican, 2009 contest machine Jeremy
Johnston, and fellow NSBer Devon Tresher went blow for blow, with Heilman
sticking a massive full-rotation 360 mere steps from the sand to win the heat.
Gorkin slipped through ahead of JJ, though, and in the
25-minute final, the best small-wave surfer on the East Coast posted up further
south than anyone, picking apart rights so small and closed out most mortals
wouldn’t even be able to stand up on them to lock up a repeat Tommy Tant win.
“Honestly, I was more worried about that semifinal with Heilman than the
final,” Gorkin said after collecting his $1000 check. “I knew I had an ace up
my sleeve, because I don’t try to compete with the other guys — that’s
when I do my best, in any contest. I try to find the wave that will let my
surfing do it for me.”
THE PAIN: Very little pain could be found on offer at the 10th
Annual Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic, except for a few tears shed when Will
Tant movingly told the crowd that the Flagler Beach community gave the Tant
family “faith, hope, and love, even when we didn’t have any.” Other than that,
there were a few grumbles from the local Flagler crew about supposed favoritism
towards the New Smyrna Beach boys, but when Johnston, Cormican, and Schweizer,
who consistently make the finals of nearly every event on the East Coast, roll
up to your homebreak, you’ve gotta elevate your game.
THE MAN: Even two-time winner Aaron Cormican was graciously
humble about his win, insisting, “This is one of the most fun events to surf
in, whether you win or lose.” So we’ll give The Man awards to the many local
students who took home scholarship money from the Tommy Tant Memorial
Scholarship Fund. “We had the most scholarship applications ever this year, so
we created a rule that each applicant had to complete 15 hours of community
service,” Will Tant said. “But we still gave away nearly $11,000, the most
money ever.”
YOU DO NOT
TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB: “I’m always
humbled when the pro divisions are so stacked. It makes the professional
surfing world truly feel like a family.” –Event organizer Will Tant,
reflecting on the Tommy Tant talent level after his quarterfinal heat, when several
competitors carried him up the beach although he didn’t even advance
“There’s just something about a guy in short shorts
doing spinners…” –MC Travis Ajay, excited over Open Men’s
Longboard contestant Chris Lind’s fancy footwork and yellow Birdwell trunks
“This event is not about the Tant family — it’s
about the Flagler Beach family.” –Tommy and Will’s mother Barbara Tant,
highlighting the tight-knit ethos of the Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic
“It’s all about putting on a good performance that
people like to watch — and I like doing that.” –2009
Pro Men’s champ Aaron Cormican, revealing the secret formula behind his laundry
list of East Coast victories
FINAL
RESULTS OF THE 10TH ANNUAL TOMMY TANT MEMORIAL SURF CLASSIC
PRO MENS 1. Aaron Cormican, $1000
2. Jesse Heilman
3. Nils Schweizer
4. Jesse Hines
PRO WOMENS 1. Jasset Umbel, $400
2. Chelsea Gresham
3. Haley Watson
4. Lauren McLean
PRO
BODYBOARD 1. Daniel Worley, $200
2. Austin Dalton
3. Devin Ricke
4. Luis Linares
OPEN MENS 1. Keto Burns
2. Daniel Glenn
3. Mike Persichetti
4. Austin Clouse
5. Tyler Crawford
6. Eric Worley
OPEN WOMENS 1. Jasset Umbel
2. Nikki Viesins
3. Haley Watson
4. Kim Diggs
5. Chelsea Gresham
6. Kara Brown
OPEN MENS
LONGBOARD 1. Daniel Glenn
2. Chris Lind
3. Brian McEachern
4. Josh Richardson
5. Tory Strange
6. Casey Cruciano
OPEN WOMENS
LONGBOARD 1. Jennifer Lovelace
2. Mallory Turner
3. Mimi Munro
4. Addison Gibson
5. Chelsea Gresham
6. Carol Walker
7. Hannah Reynolds
OPEN
BODYBOARD 1. Noel Malave
2. Devin Ricke
3. Steven Tyson
4. Tim Dalzell
5. Al Rumbos
6. Noah Dovin
TADPOLES 1. Shawn Arthur, Jr.
2. Kaleb Kirshenbaum
3. Noah Brownell
4. Kai Priester
5. Andrew Fossom
6. Madeline Lawson
MENEHUNE 1. Cobie
Gittner
2. Matthew Glenn
3. Jack Umbel
4. Evan Brownell
5. Noah Dovin
6. Bryson Figueroa
BOYS 1. Noah Schweizer
2. Daniel Glenn
3. Eros Exarhou
4. Marley Peck
5. Robbie Merrill
6. Daniel Calloway
GIRLS 1. Nikki Viesins
2. Elena Sopranzi
3. Zoe Bonik
4. Jazmine Dean
5. McKenna Harris
6. Chloe Priester
JUNIOR MENS 1. Keto Burns
2. Austin Clouse
3. Jonathon Heater
4. Nathan Colburn
5. Zach Morgan
JUNIOR WOMENS 1. Haley Watson
2. Chelsea Gresham
3. Hannah Reynolds
4. Haley Martin
5. Addison Gibson
MASTERS 1. Jeff Lastinger
2. Jay Smith
3. Jason Kern
4. Jeff Vallone
5. Gene Van Dorpe
6. Wes Spencer
GRAND
MASTERS 1. Bob Lindsley
2. Tory Strange
3. Walter Snell
4. Bill Hayes
5. Gustavo Rodriguez
6. Bruce Benner
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
