Ocean Park Surf Contest

Jose Ortiz

At 6 A.M. this chilling July Saturday morning, the moon is still glowing in the sky above, as a crowd starts to gather near Lifegaurd Tower 26 in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica. The Fourth Annual Ocean Park Surf Contest is about to begin. The air horn blasts and several surfers run into the ocean, without their boards, to compete in the Body Surf division of the contest.

  Over the years Ocean Park has acquired a rich history in surfing, skateboarding, and the arts. The Ocean Park Surf & Skate Club, along with Presenting Sponsor ZJ Boarding House, continues the tradition with it's annual surf contest. Over 70 competitors are competing for the more than $6,000 in prizes. Arbor, DogTown, Santa Monica Airlines, Lightninig Bolt, and Rider Shack are among the many sponsors that donated prizes. Carver Skateboards also made sure every top finisher will skate away with one of their complete boards.

Zypher Wilson

Tristan Welch

  After 2 heats and a final, Heather Cryan and Beck Adler took the top 2 spots in Body Surf, which was open to all ages, male and female. The rest of the contest was divided into the more traditional surf contest divisions: Masters, Mens, Women, Juniors, Boys, and Girls. Many that competed in Body Surf would also compete in these as well.

  The wind kicked up much earlier than usual, making for some pretty small surf, favoring those with longboards. A few competitors that only had shortboards ended up surfing on longboards they borrow right before their heats. Some competitors, such as 11 year old Beck surfed on both a short and longboard in the same heat. A good mixture of surfing styles was seen in each heat, guys like Masters competitor Tristan Welsh aggressively charging the waves, while others like Jose Ortiz, in the Mens division, stylishly rode the nose all the way to the sand. Girls surfer Maddie LoMonaco even went for a headstand.

  With that air horn signaling the end of the last heat of the contest, everyone relocated to the nearby grass amphitheater for the awards ceremony and concert. Local band Ocean Park Sound System put on a great live concert, as the judges finalized all the scores. The trophies, made out of recycled materials by local artists Mike Yonke and Kit Kalionzes, were then given out along with the prizes to all the winners.

"The community really makes this event special so I want to call that out. And there are a lot of local families that have dads and kids in the contest so that is cool" notes contest organizer Kevin Osborne. Next year's contest is already being planned. Body Surf 1. Heather Cryan 2. Beck Adler 3. Marcus Mclendon 4. Price Marshall Masters 1. Tristan Welch 2. John Sahakian 3. Dave Preston 4. Christian Buffum Men 1. Tyler Packham 2. Frank Carruna 3. Marcus Mclendon 4. Jorge Barba Women 1. Lauren Hawthorne 2. Suzanne Ely 3. Liz Montgomery 4. Heather Cryan Juniors 1. Cole Sweeney 2. Beck Adler 3. Zepher Wilson 4. Dylan Kruger Girls 1. Gracie 2. Maddie LoMonaco 3. Chloe Klienman 4. Eden Wilson Boys 1. Beck Adler 2. Kolby Clark 3. Charlie Gooding 4. Bodhi Sahakian

Maddie LoMonaco

  Check out over 600 more photos of the contest and concert & awards ceremony in these photo galleries:




  A video edit of the contest will be online shortly, follow our Facebook Page and our Youtube Chanel for the quickest updates.

Photos of all the wipeouts & crashes from this contest will be posted in next week's Wednesday Wipeouts.