On finals day, the air was a bit humid and heavy. The crowd was already filling in early that morning, just as the swell started to show. By midday, there wasn’t a spare bit of sand on the beach.
Every year, as soon as September comes around, one of my favorite events takes place just a few minutes’ bike ride from my house: the WSL Trestles Pro at Lower Trestles. It’s always circled on my calendar, and I’ve been going since I was a young teenager.
Back then, I loved riding my bike down. I’d even bring my surfboard and paddle out before the contest, a chance to surf with the pros as they warmed up. Then I’d take photos from the beach. Plenty of legends came through, Kelly Slater and Andy Irons among them, and it was always a blast. I still make it a point to get down every year.
Typically, I wake up at 5:30, make a coffee, pack my bags, and get on my bike not long after 6:00. The first rays of light peek over the hillside, revealing the waves for the day.
This year, the forecast wasn’t great, even after a historically good summer of surf. We were in a bit of a dry spell, but there were enough waves to make it fun, if not epic. I went down two different days. On the first, I got there nice and early and photographed for a couple of hours, catching the surfers warming up and quite a few heats. Sadly, our local boy Griffin Colapinto went out early, but plenty of other San Clemente surfers were in the mix, like Sawyer Lindblad and Eden Walla, the young wildcard who will likely be on tour next year.
Then a better swell moved in, and finals day arrived. It was a Friday. I got to the beach early, set up my spot with some friends, and started shooting.
It’s always fun watching the pros come in, warm up, and surf their heats. I don’t think there are many sports where you can stand shoulder to shoulder with the athletes like that. A few of them even stay on my street. Italo Ferreira, the Brazilian world champion, was staying a few doors down from me, which I thought was pretty cool. Funny enough, he was staying in my friend’s rental property, where I have some of my artwork hanging. One of the photos in the kitchen is of him, so I asked him about it. He said it was sick, since he’d been doing some filming outside the house.
Back to the contest: finals day was fun to watch, but the swell was inconsistent, which made it painful for some surfers. In the end, Erin Brooks won her third contest in a row, an amazing run after a rough start to the year. This young phenom is tearing it up, and it’s awesome to see her living up to her potential.
On the men’s side, Miguel Pupo took the win. He has a great story too. He’s been on tour a long time, and things are finally clicking for him.
With the trophies secured, I loaded my bike back up and made the trek back up the sand and home, eager to edit some photos. Till next year!
Leave a Reply