Local surfers shine as Trestles Pro resumes at Lower Trestles

The south wind made for questionable conditions, and the surf certainly wasn’t the best that Lower Trestles could deliver.

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But the Lexus Trestles Pro continued on Wednesday, Sept. 16, with the occasional set wave keeping the competitors in the hunt during their heats.

The World Surf League elite event had kicked off Friday, but the funky wind caused organizers to call the contest off for the day. The next morning, they tried again, but the strong south wind again put a damper on the event.

But that’s surfing — you never know what the ocean will deliver.

The women took to the water first on Wednesday, conditions improving some as the day wore on.

Tyler Wright advanced in her heat at the same spot she won in 2016, en route to winning a world title that year.

“It’s a different era in my head,” she said, taken aback that a decade has passed. “I’m having a lot more fun now than I did back then.”

Wright has been contending with physical challenges this season, having to pull out of an event in Australia earlier in the year.

“I know this year has been tough, tough on my body, so mentally you have to be very conjectural with your mentality,” she said. “This is part of this year’s journey, putting my body back together.”

San Clemente local Bella Kenworthy got the action started in her Wednesday heat early with a 6.50, then backed it up with a 4.33, with her opponent Bettylou Sakura Johnson unable to find a wave after 10 minutes passed.

Kenworthy, meanwhile, kept busy, finding punchy waves, her fourth wave allowing her five snaps on its face for a 6.83.

When the buzzer sounded and Kenworthy moved to the next round, a group of supporters watching on the sand burst into cheers.

Grandfather Richard Kenworthy was among those celebrating her heat win.

“She needed this,” he said. “It’s been challenging this year. She’s only 19 and she made some good moves out there. It’s good for her, a good confidence builder, for sure.”

San Clemente Board Rider Club Vice President Frankie D’Andrea said the conditions were similar to what showed up for this year’s West Coast Board Riders finals a few months ago, experience the local surfers could carry into the World Tour event.

“If you’re a pro and you surfed Lowers for the first time today, you’d be really lost,” he said. “They will feel right at home, they’ve surfed these conditions a million times. It will give them that much more of an advantage.”

Bella Kenworthy said she worried at the start of the day about the bad conditions.

“I thought it was going to be a lot better. The heat before mine was pretty bad. In my heat, I felt like waves were starting to come. It’s definitely getting better,” she said. “I definitely hope for a little better conditions. But this is what we got, and it’s still a lot of fun.”

San Clemente’s Eden Walla, an event wildcard, also took the win in her heat, her first ever in a World Tour event.

“I’m feeling so good. I was super nervous going into that heat,” she said. “I think with every moment I spend here, I get a little closer to being more comfortable. I’m really just trying to take it all in and learn as much as I can.”

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Another up-and-coming San Clemente surfer, Kirra Pinkerton, also a wildcard entry, had a tough matchup, going up against world champion and Olympic gold medalist Caroline Marks, a Florida surfer who also calls San Clemente home.

“She’s got a big task, but that’s what you get when you’re a wildcard,” said D’Andrea. “You have to beat the best to be the best.”

Marks found a left to do big turns for her first wave, judges dishing out a 7.67.

The 30-minute heat was at its halfway mark before Pinkerton took a wave, a solid 6-pointer that put her on the board.  Marks answered right back with two big turns to earn a 4.17.

Pinkerton wasn’t going down without a fight. She found a set wave that allowed for big, open-face turns, doing big hacks as she navigated the wave toward shore. Judges gave her a 6.50, putting her in the lead.

Marks only needed a small score, a 4.83. With five minutes left, she found a wave that earned her an 8.0, giving her a total score of 15.67, taking back the top spot and leaving her opponent in need of a high 9.17.

Marks, who was crowned world champion on the same beach three years ago, said she’s happy the event is a regular tour stop, over the one-day finals event that was held there for several recent years.

“It’s such a fun wave. It’s one of my favorite events of the year, if not my favorite,” Marks said.

The men took to the water by the late morning, with local San Clemente surfer Griffin Colapinto facing Indonesian surfer Rio Waida in a heat.

Colapinto had a slow start, but then took to the air above a wave’s lip for a 6.83. He punted to the air again to earn 5.8, putting his opponent — with a score just 0.20 behind Colapinto — on the defensive.

But with just a few minutes left, Colapinto widened his lead with a 7.67, putting Waida in need of an 8-point ride.

Groms met Colapinto at the cobblestone shoreline to congratulate him, getting photos and autographs from the local surf celebrity.

Brother Crosby Colapinto, however, didn’t have the same luck. The San Clemente surfer matched up against longtime rival Kanoa Igarashi, a Huntington surfer who competes for Japan.

Igarashi found waves that allowed for the highest heat total of the event so far, and the best of his season, with scores of 8.30 and 9.

Igarashi called the younger Colapinto “dangerous,” the two surfers taking similar strategies during the heat.

“You kind of have that feeling when someone is in the same game plan,” Igarashi said, noting that had Colapinto been in position for those waves, he would have been able to post the same scores.

“I was just happy I was in the right rhythm for those ones,” Igarashi said.

Contest organizers decide each day if conditions are right for competition. To see if the Trestles Pro continues Thursday and to watch online, go to worldsurfleague.com.

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