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Day 1 of the World Surf League’s SLO CAL Open began on Monday at Pismo Beach as the weather took its toll from the start, both good and bad.
It wasn’t ideal for the spectators, but the early rain on Monday morning made for a perfect day for surfers like Kei Kobayashi in the World Surf League qualifying series, with minimal wind. The conditions were ideal.
“that [was] Pretty great surfing today, that’s [was] It’s quite a storm,” Kobayashi said. “But for us surfers, because of the rain, there’s not a lot of wind, and being offshore keeps the waves very clean.” That’s actually what we want. ”
The WSL Qualification Series 3,000-point event is a major setback for North American surfers aiming to qualify for the Challenger Series and even the World Tour.
Kobayashi, who is ranked 40th in the QS rankings, explained, “Every event is important, but this one is really important. I think from now on, everyone is just coming here to have fun and show off their best surfing.” .
It’s also a big deal for the region as Visit SLO CAL enters its third year as title sponsor of the Pismo Beach event.
“It’s so important to feature our coastline here at events like this and to visit SLO CAL,” said Lisa Bersanti, Director of Public Relations and Communications for Visit SLO CAL. It’s 130 miles long and the surfing here is incredible.” ”
The waves here make for great surfing, but it’s the sport itself that people find solace in, like Bob Voglin, a cancer survivor and founder of Surfing for Hope. Bob Voglin’s organization helps support cancer patients through the sport of surfing.
“Surfing and cancer seem like an unusual partnership at first glance,” Voeglin says.
But they act together like surfers catching top-scoring waves.
“We can promote the positive energy of the ocean to help people going through cancer. In a nutshell, that’s really what we’re doing.”
For the organizations helping to bring it all together, events like this are a win for everyone.
“Our partnership with the World Surf League, the local community and Surfing for Hope has been a huge benefit to the region,” Mr Bersanti said.
This is just the start of the week, and while Kobayashi and the rest of the field look to take advantage of this opportunity, surfers will continue to move through groups with the aim of gaining promotion in the coming days.
“The waves are good and the conditions are clean, so it looks like it’s going to be a fun week.”
The SLO CAL Open runs through Sunday, January 28th and features local athletes Samuel Moore and Braden Jones.
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