O’Neill Coldwater Classic wraps up
Californian surfer Nathan Yeomans won the O’Neill Coldwater Classic California on a perfect final day of competition at Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz.
“I’m so stoked. I can’t even talk,” said Nathan after his victory. “To win in my home state, to win a 6-star prime event in such an iconic location and to be up there with the guys who have won this event in its history is incredible."
It was a final of epic proportions with some of the biggest sets of the week coming in as if on cue for the final heat.
“There were a lot of waves coming at me with about 10 minutes to go,” said the runner up Heath Joske. “When those sets came through, about 30 of them hit me in the head one after the other. I got battered but it’s the way of the ocean.”
One of the favourites for the competition, world number three Adriano De Souza, was knocked out in the first heat of the day by fellow Brazilian surfer Alejo Muniz.
“I was so nervous,” said Alejo. “I have looked up to Adriano for years. I was so nervous to surf a heat against him I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I can’t believe it. It’s like a dream come true.”
However, this run was cut short by Nathan Yeomans in the semi-finals. With a packed awards ceremony on the point at Steamer Lane, it wasn’t just the final two surfers who were celebrating victory in the Californian sunshine.
Blake Thornton cut short his break to Los Angeles and headed straight back up to Santa Cruz when he discovered that he had won the $50,000USD as the overall winner of the O’Neill Coldwater Classic Series 2009.
“I went down to L.A. after I blew it here in my first heat,” said Blake “I was checking Jarrad Howse and Adam Melling’s progress at the end of the day, but I couldn’t watch. I needed so many things to go right and they did."
It was the perfect ending to not only an epic competition here in Santa Cruz but also to the entire O’Neill Coldwater Classic Series. The series has encompassed The Bluff in Tasmania, the perfection of Thurso East in Scotland, the incredible Kalk Bay in Cape Town, South Africa, the cold but huge surf in Tofino Canada and finally the epic conditions of Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz.
“It’s a great concept,” said Blake Thornton. “We saw some different places. I never dreamt I would go to Canada surfing and it’s the nicest place I’ve ever been. And then Cape Town was awesome not only because I did well but because it was something new."
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O’Neill Coldwater Classic wraps up (text) by HUCK HQ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK License.
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