US Open of Surfing: Mens

Hiroto Ohhara of Japan claimed the biggest result of his career by winning the Vans US Open of Surfing Men’s QS 10,000 after defeating Tanner Hendrickson of Hawaii in a hard-fought Final. The pair traded waves throughout the exciting bout with the young surfer from Japan holding the lead through the opening half. A strong backside vertical snap from Hendrickson earned a 7.00 and a back-up 5.90 saw him take the lead. Three big turns on the outside from Ohhara followed by a final maneuver on the inside with just over three minutes remaining earned him an excellent 9.17 and a lead change. Hendrickson was left looking for a 7.51 but his final attempts fell short and Ohhara took the historic win. Ohhara became the first Japanese surfer to make the Final at the Vans US Open of Surfing after defeating local favorite Kanoa Igarashi in the opening Semifinal. Taking eight waves to Igarashi’s three, Ohhara edged the win and sent the Huntington Beach local home in third place.

Click here for the Womens Event

Runner-up Hendrickson caused the ultimate upset in the Semifinal, ousting defending event winner and CT standout Filipe Toledo of Brazil. A heat high 7.17 from Hendrickson for wrapping cutback followed by a frontside air put him back in contention after Toledo took an early lead. The unsponsored underdog was left chasing a 5.03 to eclipse the Brazilian phenom. With eight minutes remaining Hendrickson delivered a series of powerful snaps, netting a 6.07 to force a lead change and leave Toledo in need of a 7.08. The clocked ticked down with the Brazilian hunting the lineup. With just under two minutes left Toledo took a wave but fell on his final maneuver and didn’t get the score, leaving the competition in third place.

Beyrick De Vries

Alex Ribeiro

Connor O'Leary

Cooper Chapman

Maxime Huscenot

Adrian Buchan

Dion Atkinson

Krystian Kymerson

Kolohe Andino

Alex Ribeiro

Granger Larsen

Filipe Toledo

Caio Ibelli

Miguel Pupo

Filipe Toledo

Cooper Chapman

Charles Martin

Beyrick De Vries

Connor O'Leary

Alex Ribeiro

Filipe Toledo


A ton more photos in the US Open Of Surfing Photo Gallery.

US Open Of Surfing: Womens

Johanne Defay reigns supreme on the final day of the Vans US Open of Surfing.
“I don’t think I can put it into words,” said Defay. “It’s very hard to digest and I don’t know how to say how I feel -- it’s so crazy. I’m very happy to have some of my friends here and I’m thinking of the people back home too. I guess it’s all the work I’ve done before and it’s all come together. I’ve just been sticking to same game plan, trying to get a lot of waves. It was tricky at the start but then I got that score which put me in a better position. I feel really good, last year everything was so new and this year I feel way more comfortable.”

“It’s pretty amazing, I could never imagine that I could win here or that I could win an event,” said Defay. “I just took it heat by heat and it’s so crazy. This is definitely my biggest win. Ending up last year at eighth on the rankings I thought maybe I could do top five so we’ll see what happens this year.”

Alessa Quizon

Bianca Buitendag
With this win, Johanne Defay claimed her first elite CT victory. Defay took out Sally Fitzgibbons in a tense Final at Huntington Beach Pier. Defay previously defeated Bianca Buitendag in the Semi-Finals, while Fitzgibbons beat Courtney Conlogue in their heat, which was pretty much wave-less. Sally ended going way south of the surf area to find some waves, while Courtney stood near the pier and unfortunately, no waves come through. Sally ended up getting several waves before Courtney even got one. Fitzgibbons, the 2011 event winner, earned herself a runner-up finish and remains at third place on the Jeep Leaderboard.

Small crowd.

Johanne Defay


A ton more photos in the US Open Of Surfing Photo Gallery.

Supergirl Pro

PAUL MITCHELL SUPERGIRL PRO RETURNED TO OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA JULY 24-26 FOR THE ONLY WSL 6-STAR FEMALE SURFING COMPETITION IN THE U.S.
The nationally televised event is the largest female surf contest in the world, with 108 of the planet’s top pros competing. The fierce competition started early on Friday morning on the south side of the iconic Oceanside Pier, and by the afternoon the field was cut down to 64. Saturday's heats cut the field down to 16 for Sunday's rounds of finals.

Johanne Defay

Silvana Lima

Sage Erickson
The finals came down to a battle of Supergirl podium vets with Courtney Conlogue, the 2009 champion, facing Tatiana Weston-Webb, who took second place at last year’s Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro. Weston-Webb wowed the judges to capture the coveted pink Supergirl cape. Sage Erickson and Nikki Van Dijk tied for third.“Finally!” the 19-year-old Weston-Webb shouted as she was swarmed by fans after being named the winner. “Last year really made me want to win this year! Courtney is amazing, and for me to be here means the world to me. Now I have a lot of confidence going into the rest of this year.“

Courtney Conlogue

Tatiana Weston Webb

Isabella Nichols

Isabella Nichols

Lakey Peterson

Alessa Quizon

Tatiana Weston Webb

Courtney Conlogue

Justine Dupont

Chelsea Tuach

Sage Erickson

Tatiana Weston Webb

Laura Enever

Tatiana Weston Webb


A ton more photos in the Supergirl Pro Photo Gallery.

Video: US Open Of Surfing Snapchat Story

This is the official US Open Of Surfing Snapchat Story that was uploaded live on the final day of the contest. This was shot by various people throughout the day.



If you're unfamilar with Snapchat, it's a mobile app that lets you take and post photos and 10 second video clips you shoot on your phone or tablet. These photos and videos are called snaps, they only last for 24hrs. You either send these to snapchat friends or post them to your Story. Snapchat Stories string Snaps together to create a narrative that also lasts for 24 hours.

Video: Lifeguard Attacked At Venice Pier

Lifeguard whose attack by three people in Venice was captured on video had simply asked his assailants to stop smoking on the pier, one of the lifeguard’s supervisors said Friday.

The full-time lifeguard, who has been with the department for 10 years, was jumped by two men and a woman as soon as he hopped off the ladder at his tower at the Venice Pier on Thursday evening, authorities said.

The LAPD identified the two men as Harutiun Balyan, 30, and Ara Sarkisyan, 28. The woman was identified as Arusiak Gekchyan, 28. All three were arrested on suspicion of battery on an executive officer, a felony. They have been freed on bail, LAPD officials said.

The video shows two men swinging wildly at the lifeguard the moment he was off the ladder. Haskett said the lifeguard got down from the tower so he could have a clear conversation with the group. There’s a no smoking sign when you walk on the pier and lifeguards routinely ask people to not break the rules, Haskett said.

But only law enforcement can cite someone so lifeguards can act only as witnesses to a violation, he added.

At one point in the video, the lifeguard stands up and exchanges blows with one of the men while a bystander moves in and confronts the second attacker.

Video shows the woman kicking at the lifeguard’s head when he was on the ground trying to get up. She was also making false claims of sexual harassment.

Two other lifeguards eventually showed up and broke up the fight, video showed.

A recording of the fight’s aftermath showed one of the three fight suspects breathing heavily, lying on his back, his face covered in blood.

The confrontation occurred about 7:15 p.m., the LAPD said. The three people seen fighting the lifeguard were arrested on suspicion of felony assault, according to KTLA.

The lifeguard drove himself to the hospital after the fight – he is waiting for results to learn if he broke his hand, Haskett said. One of the lifeguard’s alleged attackers was also taken to the hospital for medical treatment, police said.