Encinitas’ Levi Slawson wins US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Two Southern California surfers made it to the winner’s podium Sunday at the US Open of Surfing.

San Clemente’s Sawyer Lindblad won the event for the second time.

And it was the biggest career win yet for Encinitas surfer Levi Slawson, a 22-year-old hoping to make it onto the World Tour.

Crowds on Sunday flooded onto the sand for the last day of the US Open of Surfing, a nine-day festival set at the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

While the wave size was bigger on final day, the morning had a funky wind and waves that were difficult to read, at times closing out and shutting down opportunities for scores.

By the afternoon, the sun broke through and 4- to 6-foot surf gave the surfers plenty of opportunities. At times, the whitewash was so powerful that water licked the bottom of the concrete pier.

Lindblad knows how much a US Open of Surfing victory in Huntington Beach means. Her win two years ago in the Challenger Series event helped earn her valuable points to land on the World Tour last year, the elite level of surf competition.

But a tough start on the World Tour this year saw her suffer the mid-year cut, though with changes to the tour next season increasing the number of spots in the women’s field, she will automatically land back on the tour at the start of the year.

Brazil’s Mateus Herdy posted one of the highest scores of the day — a 9.5 — to land in the semifinals.

“I didn’t expect to land it,” he admitted. “I really want to win this contest.”

Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi made it to the finals day, going up against an in-form Michael Rodrigues. The local surfer wasted no time keeping busy, doing three big turns next to the pier to get a 5-point score on the board, followed by a 4.6. Rodrigues, on the other hand, waited for just the right wave to show up.

Igarashi, who grew up at the surf break but competes for Japan, led the heat until the final minutes, when Rodrigues took two big turns to earn a 6.9 to overtake the lead, leaving Igarashi hunting for a 5.76.

With just seconds left on the clock, Igarashi took to the air, but didn’t have enough juice to get the score, coming up just 0.39 shy of the score he needed. Now, he’s off on a flight to Tahiti, where he will compete at the next World Tour stop, an event that could secure his spot on the WSL Finals in Fiji in September.

“Kanoa has been crazy, the whole event, doing the best scores,” Rodrigues said. “A lot of things happened during that event, I really wanted to make it.”

San Clemente’s Kade Matson faced off against Slawson.

Slawson found an 8-point ride, followed by a 7.33, to leave his opponent hunting for a score.

Slawson reflected on the years he’s been going up against Matson.

“Me and Kade have had so many heats against each other. It’s funny matching up with him here because it feels like we’re in an NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association), but we’re adults now and this is the biggest stage you can get at Huntington,” he said.

He knew he would have to drop two big scores to overtake Matson, he said.

“At the end, I was kind of scared and just trying to keep my composure. But, I’m stoked to beat him and scrape through,” Slawson said. “Thanks to everyone supporting me this week and sending me kind messages. Hopefully, I can bring it home for you all.”

Herdy won his semifinal heat against Rodrigues to earn a spot in the finals against Slawson, who won his semifinal heat against Japanese surfer Hiroto Ohhara, who won the event in 2015.

The final was a nail-biter, Slawson leading the entire heat until Herdy took a last-second wave, the surfers and crowd awaiting the score to drop.

When Herdy’s score came up short, the San Diego surfer was lifted on the shoulders of supporters, taking the podium as the US Open of Surfing winner. He sat down for a second to gain his composure, overwhelmed with emotion following his win.