Linda Benson v Swamis

It seems my kids high school surf team got on an email string regarding the fight for a contest at Swamis. And it is an interesting battle. The 2010 Womens Longboarding Championship to be held at Swamis next October.

Linda Benson...Icon, hall of fame surfer, et al.. is rallied her forces to have a womens longboard pro contest at Swamis. Kassia Meador, Jenn Smith and all the girls that could be supermodels, but surf better than you together for a weekend. Sounds great, fun, Encinitas like.......

Plenty of room right?

However the Swamis locals are not too stoked. There is a real backlash against contests at Swamis. Is it a slippery slope with Huntington Pier the poster child of surf spots turned contest spots? Should we invite more people to surf a crowded Encinitas? Should they just suck it up and surf closeouts at D Street like all the other contests?

Well I get to stand on the sidelines of this one. I have an Amsterdam pass being I have only surfed Swamis twice; once when I was 13 years old on an exotic trip down from Venice and then again two summers ago. I have been out to Boneyards but have not surfed Swamis enough to have a proper say in what should be what.

Do I want a contest at Avocado Street.....No. Do I spend my fall weekends at contests...Yes.

AMBIVALENCE
Noun 1. ambivalence - mixed feelings or emotions
ambivalency
feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual"
conflict - opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings; "he was immobilized by conflict and indecision"

WSA Menehune Contest

We went to Huntington Beach for a 'easy contest' this morning. Logan was greeted with two WSA Prime surfers and a NSSA National Champ in his first heat.

Logan came back strong in the Longboard Division.
A little prep from his brother for his final.
They both took home 3rd place trophies in their age division! not a bad days work....

All dressed up with no where to go

Hale and Lucas got up early. They spent last night rewaxing surfboards and talking heat strategy. We were ready for 5:30am departure. Then we got the email:

Offical email from ISF

isfsurfteams@aol.com to me show details 5:12 AM (6 hours ago) Reply

Please note the contest is canceled today due to weather and unsafe conditions. thank you, Carolyn.

INTERSCHOLASTIC SURFING FEDERATION6774 Camino Del Prado, Carlsbad, CA 92011760-476-1694 http://www.isfsurfing.org/

It rained like crazy last night so the water was dirty and unsafe.

Here is what Ocean Beach looked like from surf shot.

But you know groms, they were still begging to surf this morning so I drove down to Ponto about 7am to show them it looked like 'Victory at Sea'. Now I just have to keep them occupied without going stir crazy the rest of the day.

Contest at Pipeline;....er....Ocean Beach

The YMCA contest was slated as a 'Novice Contest for Surfers getting ready for competition'.



It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm. The wave report for the contest was 1-3 foot and glassy.........



Lucas and Logan were excited for their contest. Like Sarah Palin going to Sachs with her shiny new RNC credit card! We got up early and drove down to Ocean Beach. Unfortunately when we pulled up it resembled more pipeline than small San Diego. Yes this photo is Puerto Escondido. But put yourself at Logan's size 4'6" 75lbs and you get the picture.



To add insult to injury here is one of the kids he surfed against. There were 12 year old kids getting tubed and doing airs!



Here is Hale psyching up for his heat. He did well and got into the finals. I saw him at Cardiff today and he said the finals were sketchy. But he was a champ and coached Logan.

Here are some of the parents wondering if they should have their kids go out?

Here is Logan getting ready for his heat.

Here is Jerry getting Logan ready for his heat. He stepped up and paddled out getting 3 waves in the 4-8 foot faces. The surfers were very good.

Here is Lucas in his heat taking off on head high pounders. He did great. The put him in a heat with a pro surfer and a few adults so it was stacked against him but he carried himself well in the big surf earning respect from the beach.

Lucas again.

So after the contest we went to Cardiff and got a fun afternoon session.