The nation’s best young surfers scored perfect 4- to 6-foot waves at the 2026 USA Surfing Junior Championships at Lower Trestles, with several local competitors earning national titles.
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The event, held at the future site of the LA28 Olympics, brought out 250 of the country’s best surfers between the ages of 10 and 18, who traveled from across the United States to compete.
Among the championships on finals day over the weekend were several San Clemente surfers: Charlotte Moschopoulos for the U12 girls division, Moses Hennings for U14 boys, Isla Pinto for U14 girls, King Nicol for U16 boys and Eden Walla for the U18 girls.
Throughout the year, the athletes competed in regional and national events to earn their place at the prestigious championship, the training ground and pathway to international competition and elite-level surfing.
“It was phenomenal,” said Greg Hulsizer, newly named CEO of USA Surfing. “First, seeing the level of the talent of the athletes was just amazing. Secondly, to see the support they get from their families, their coaches, their teams — the camaraderie and energy on the beach was really inspiring.”
It didn’t hurt that the athletes scored what some are calling the “swell of the decade,” a run of waves that spanned from championships held in Oceanside the previous weekend through the USA Surfing Juniors event at Lower Trestles.
“The level of surfing was great to begin with, but when you see the athletes surf in 4- to-6 foot, perfectly shaped Lowers, with nobody else out, it’s awe inspiring,” Hulsizer said.
The USA Surfing Junior Championships have been a staple in the surf world for more than 20 years, often the stage where young surfers are scouted by sponsors and prepare to take their careers from amateur to professional.
Current World Surf League competitors from San Clemente, brothers Crosby and Griffin Colapinto and Cole Houshmand, all grew up competing at the events, as have world champions and Olympic gold medalists Carissa Moore and San Clemente’s Caroline Marks, who moved from Florida as a teen to be closer to the world-class wave.
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“For more than two decades, the USA Surfing Junior Championships have identified and developed the athletes who go on to represent our country at the highest levels of the sport,” said Hulsizer, who has surfed Lowers for more than 50 years. “Standing on the beach this week, watching these young surfers perform on the future Olympic venue, it was impossible not to be excited about the future.”
And knowing it will be the same surf break that will host the LA28 Olympic Games gives “tremendous confidence” in the next generation of Team USA surfers, he added.
With the spotlight on Lower Trestles as the LA28 Olympic Games near, the junior championships were a chance for young competitors to have the unique opportunity to compete on the same wave where the next Olympic medal winners will be crowned two summers from now.
“The 2026 USA Championships was the best event USA Surfing has ever run,” said Ryan Simmons, USA Surfing Head Coach, in a statement. “The waves were epic all week. Pumping 6- to 10-foot faces graced the cobblestone point of Lower Trestles for the athletes to revel in. The performance of the surfers were some of the most radical and dynamic we’ve ever seen.”
The weekend competition followed events earlier in the month when the Para, Longboard, Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Surf, and SUP and Prone Racing disciplines battled in Oceanside.
The junior surfing championship action continues in Huntington Beach with the 2026 NSSA National Explorer Championships from June 26 through June 28, with waves for the opening days of the event expected to be in the 4- to 6-foot range.
The NSSA National Open Championships then run from June 29 through July 3, with another pulse of swell expected to bring sizeable surf through the finals day.
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For full USA Surfing results: liveheats.com/events/506201