February 10 Archive

Congrats go out to Bubble Gum team member Kanoa Igarashi on signing his new deal with Quiksilver. Good things ahead!!

2-year-old holds NSSA record for most wins in one season

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 February, 2010 : - - Quiksilver announced today the newest member of its world-class surf team--12-year-old Kanoa Igarashi--putting him among the ranks of surfing's elite. Amid the sea of young athletes trying to break into the pro surfing circuit, Igarashi stands out as the most promising that any have seen in a long time. And with an eye for talent and a roster of the world's best surfers, no one has been monitoring the influx of talent as closely as Quiksilver.

"Quiksilver is really excited to have Kanoa join the team," says Chad Wells, Quiksilver's Surf Team Manager. "He is a phenomenal athlete at such a young age and has a solid foundation of both air and rail surfing. Kanoa shows true signs of a world class athlete and his competitive record speaks for itself."

Among his competitive achievements, Igarashi holds the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) all-time record for 30 wins in one season- an impressive accomplishment for someone of his age. Through his driving spirit, Igarashi has consistently built an ambitious range of skill, tricks and maneuvers--leaving seasoned pros in awe of his talent.

"I'm really excited about my future and how Quiksilver is going to help me reach my goals," said Igarashi. "It's a dream come true."

Igarashi was born in Santa Monica, CA, to Japanese parents who taught him to surf at just three years old. He speaks fluent English and Japanese and currently resides in Quiksilver's home base of Huntington Beach, CA.

Citing his favorite spot as Snapper Rocks on Australia's Gold Coast, Igarashi is looking forward to traveling there at the end of the month to attend and watch the rest of the Quiksilver surf team as they compete in the Quiksilver Pro Australia, the first stop on the 2010 ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) Men's World Championship Tour.

Aussies Anthony Walsh & Mark Mathews 2nd & 3rd, Fuller 4th

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 February, 2010 : - - Pipeline -- Prayers, plundered surfboards and Pipeline perfection were the order of the final day of the Volcom Pipeline Pro, and local boy Jamie O'Brien avoided the drama to walk away with the win. O'Brien, 26, clinched his third Pipeline Pro title today to take home $16,000 and 2,000 ASP World Qualifying Series ratings points. Surf for the final day was in the range of 10-15-foot wave face heights.

Australian pair Anthony Walsh and Mark Mathews were second and third respectively in the final, both breaking surfboards and forced to swim to the beach during the 45-minute bout. Fourth place was Hawaii's Danny Fuller, who posted the day's only perfect 10 during his semi-final heat but was unable to exit several deep tubes in the final that might have scored the same.

Two high scores - 8.77 and 8.23 - sealed the deal for O'Brien, giving him a two-wave total of 17.0 out of a maximum 20.

The highest scoring ride in the final actually belonged to Mathews, who was runner-up to O'Brien here at this same event back in 2007. Despite a horrible start to the heat, Mathews regrouped on a backup board and ended up splitting a peak with O'Brien on the best wave of the final. Mathews opted for the Backdoor, O'Brien took Pipe. Mathews' was a super deep and long barrel, while O'Brien's looked bigger but didn't travel as far.

Mathews was right back in the game with a 9.57 after that, but never managed to secure the second score he needed of 7.43, counting a 4.57 in its place. "I thought I had a good wave and then I heard his score!" said Jamie, of the near-perfect score Mathews got going right on the wave they split.

"I love Pipeline. I kind of talk to it out there. You might think I'm crazy, but I just started praying it was going to go flat in the end, and Mark looks and me and says, 'I bet you're praying that it's going flat', and I was like, yeah! (Laughs.)

"Mark was in the running. I've surfed with him out here before, he's a great surfer, he was ripping. But it's kind of funny, every time you think you have it, you don't have it. I didn't think I had it even with 10 seconds (to go).

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