More than 40,000 watched Hungtington Beach's favorite son, Brett Simpson, defend his US Open Championship on
Sunday by winning for the second year in a row. Simpson defeated the current ASP tour leader Jordy Smith in the final, which was plagued by small surf and a high tide. Simpson dominated his home break, and its' clear that local knowledge paid off. Even Smith is nearly a local now. Though he's from South Africa he's been residing just down the road in Newport Beach for more than a year. So yes, for those keeping track of the statistical trivia, the two US Open of Surfing finalists live closer to the H.B. Pier than any of their fellow competitors on the World Champion Tour.
The victory for Simpson is even bigger than his victory last year. By going back-to-back, he joins elite surfing company. Only legends like Mark Occhilupo and Tom Curren have done the same in Hungtington Beach.
But while Brett's back-to-back victory will own the headlines, the week long festival was filled with compelling subplots.
The sheer number of revelations that have come to light over the past week are, when summed up, the larger story of the US Open of Surfing. Here are a handful of them...
The Brazilian contingent is stronger than ever: Jadson Andre, Miguel Pupo, Gabriel Medina, and Alejo Muniz
took Huntington by storm this week. Muniz would have won the Pro Junior final if not for a controversial interference call that handed Evan Geiselman his victory. That Muniz finished second despite the call was a pretty solid shot over the bow to media darlings Kolohe Andino and Geiselman. 23-year-old Brazilian tour "veteran" Adriano de Souza is likely to have a handful of wingman out on the world tour soon enough. Beachbreaks really do belong on the tour schedule: The Huntington beachbreak is easy to hate. And many pros love to hate it. But some of the most inspiring high-performance surfing of the year took place this week in what was ultimately average H.B. surf. While this place will never be mistaken for J-Bay, Snapper or Teahupoo, it's contribution to surfing is massive. Not because of the huge crowds and even larger branding dollars, but because the most exciting above-the-lip progression is happening in beachbreaks...and that kind of surfing needs to be seen.
Surfers need flight plans: Aerial surfing has reached new heights this year, thanks in large part to the prior two points: beachbreaks and Brazilians like Jadson Andre. While Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith and Owen Wright have long been leading that charge too, it was Andre's victory in Brasil earlier this year raised the bar in two crucial areas: altitude and averages. As a result of that victory, there are more crazy aerials being launched and landed today than ever before. We saw a lot of that this week in Huntington.
The Pro Juniors deserve their bright lights: Two-time world champion Barton Lynch wasn't lying when he said the Pro Junior final was more exciting than most of the open division competition on Sunday. The young guns were handling the deteriorating conditions well, keeping the energy up along with their altitude. There's little doubt that all four finalist are going to be giant killers.
Prime events rule: The ASP's huge ranking shakeup this year has added a lot more significance to Prime events like The Open, and the biggest benefactors are the hardcore surfing fans. The collection of talent from top-to-bottom this year was arguably better than any other in history. From Kelly Slater to Kolohe Andino (and even Carissa Moore) the talent was spread far, wide and deep. Having more quality surfers to watch is never a bad thing. Prime events prove it.
About those boards: One of the most encouraging things to see at this year's Open was a wider collection of influential surfers paying more mind to their boards. Slater, of course, has been on his design kick for a while. He continues to want to push his four-fins into the lineup, but is more prudent than before. Dane Reynold's has finally
discovered the hidden benefits of the wider tail. His chopped tails are an easy solution for speed bursts. And if you watched Julian Wilson dominate the expression session than you saw him do it on what looked like a kneeboard. Kelly is a class act: OK, we knew that already. But Slater is genuinely having fun doing what he's doing. The US Open of Surfing was probably one of the more demanding weeks of the year for Slater, who can barely move in Surf City without being accosted by fans. Like a true peoples champion he takes it in stride. While Slater's peers have learned a lot from his surfing, they can learn a lot more by trying to emulate his attitude.
Jordy plans on sticking around: Another finals appearance by Smith shouldn't be lost on anyone. While he's certainly not a favorite heading to Tahiti, where Slater reigns supreme, he's not likely to crumble easy. Smith is finally on solid ground. He's by far Slater's biggest threat to a tenth world title. The fact that this 200-pounder can make a final at crumbly Hungtington has us thinking there may be nothing at all stopping him from doing the same in Tahiti.
