Vans Contests Heat Up in Virginia

Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States (Wednesday, August 20, 2014): Competition commenced today as the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Vans Pro and the Vans Pro Junior took to the water in contestable 2-to-3 foot wind-swept peaks. The Vans Pro Junior completed the remaining 14 heats of Round 2, before moving on to the Vans Pro, which completed all 16 heats of Round 1.

The day's standout performance came from Jake Marshall (USA) who won his Round 2 heat of Vans Pro Junior with an impressive 15.33 heat total, only to follow it up with another heat win in Round 1 of the Vans Pro with an even higher 15.60 two-wave total (8.33 + 7.27), dropping both the highest heat score and the highest single-wave score of the men's event so far.

“This is the last 2-Star of the year for the Junior Series so it's a good opportunity to make one last push in the ratings, because my goal is to make Worlds (ASP World Junior Championships),” said Marshall.

“On the men's side, I've never really made a heat in the QS (ASP Qualification Series), so there is a lot to learn from these events for me. I'm just starting to get old enough to make an effort towards the QS so no matter how I do I am going to take this as a learning experience.”

A good result here in Virginia Beach could ensure Marshall a spot in the Junior World Championships, as well as jump-start the 15-year-old's ASP Qualification Series campaign.

One surfer that also looked to be in good form was Kanoa Igarashi (USA) who won his Round 2 heat of the Vans Pro Junior with a noteworthy 15.47 two-wave total, the second highest of the day. The regular-footer seemed to be in tune with his equipment, showing he could perform in the day's small conditions.

“We are staying right here on the beach and I saw last night that the waves were picking up a bit so I decided to ride a touch bigger board. I'm riding the board that I rode at the US Open and it's my magic board,” explained Igarashi. “There were big gaps between the sets and the smaller ones so it was pretty simple, I wanted to wait for the good ones and that's all I really needed to do.”

Another solid performance came from East Coast native Noah Schweizer (USA), who took first place in his Round 2 heat of the Pro Junior, laying down an 8.00 on his first wave. The Floridian also went on to advance through his Round 1 heat of the Vans Pro and can look forward to the next Round in both divisions.

“Luckily there was some North wind that kicked up later in the day yesterday that bumped up a little bit of wind swell, so today I went out kind of psyched to surf," said Schweizer. "I got that first wave and could actually put together a carve out the back and a few little turns to finish it off so it was a pretty good way to start the day.”

The Vans Pro and Vans Pro Junior will be webcast LIVE this week on this site, and at www.surfecsc.com, which also features full contest results.