Hawaiians Dominate Early Rounds
The Swatch Girls Pro France got underway on the very first day of the waiting period at Les Bourdaines, Seignosse on yesterday’s morning. A 2ft (chest high) mix of overnight windswell and a distance pulse of Atlantic groundswell offered select scoring opportunities for surfers in the early rounds, but despite the technically challenging conditions, high scores were laid down by a standout trio of Hawaiian surfers. Leila Hurst, 18, earned an excellent 9.0 point ride on her way to a heat total of 17.25 (out of 20) in a commanding display. Modest about her strong start, Hurst said “I think I just got lucky because I was watching before and I really didn’t know what I was going to do… I just sat deep and waited for a wave, and two good ones came to me.” Fellow Hawaiian teenager Alessa Quizon also served notice to the competition’s top seeds, posting two heat totals in excess of 15 points (out of 20), impressing spectators and judges alike with impressive speed and sharpness in the at times minimal conditions. Meanwhile a third Hawaiian wahine, Bethany Hamilton, 22, put on an impressive display on her backhand in the small clean rights of the afternoon, also earning a 9.0 point ride.
Swatch Pro Team Standing By
With the surf forecast looking promising for the next few days before the potential of stormy conditions on the weekend, organizers are hoping to get underway early this morning with round 4, which sees the introduction of the top seeds into proceedings. Among them will be the Swatch Proteam trio of ASP World Title Race contenders Courtney Conlogue, Pauline Ado and Coco Ho. With Courtney having already won an elite level event in Sydney this year and Coco coming fresh off the back of a runner’s up finish two weeks ago in Rio, all eyes will be on this pair to see if they can muster a maiden French win. Meanwhile French local Pauline will be drawing on the full support of a passionate local crowd.
