San Clemente’s Sawyer Lindblad, San Diego’s Levi Slawson win US Open of Surfing

Two Southern California surfers made it to the winner’s podium Sunday, Aug. 3, at the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach in front of thousands of fans who cheered as they were victoriously brought up the sand.

San Clemente’s Sawyer Lindblad won the event for the second time, while it was the biggest career win yet for Encinitas surfer Levi Slawson, a 22-year-old hoping to make it onto the World Tour.

“It feels really good, this event is really iconic and it’s always been an event I wanted to win, and to do it twice is just really surreal,” Lindblad, 19, said. “I’m just really grateful for all the fans coming down and my family — just a really special moment.”

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’s 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, 4-to 6-foot surf giving the surfers plenty of opportunities, at times the whitewash so powerful water licked the bottom of the concrete pier.

The women were the first to take to the water for the quarterfinal heats, Lindblad overtaking Australian surfer Sophie McCulloch.

“It was really hard out there. I felt like I was just going on waves that were going to be good and then they were nothing,” Lindblad said.

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. Rodriguez, 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 him 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, the two no strangers to competing against one another throughout their amateur careers.

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, like when they were growing up and coming up the ranks.

“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.”

His dad Solomon Slawson was on the sidelines, beaming at his son’s win into the semi-finals. He thought, he said, about the years surfing countless events at the pier – but the US Open is the big stage.

“This one is huge because it’s the US Open, there’s so many eyes from the industry, because it’s Surf City USA and the waves have been pumping,” the elder Slawson said. “It’s been really good conditions and everyone just surfs so well at this level of surfing. There’s an element of luck, with the ocean giving you waves and things going in your favor. But all in all – amazing.”

Lindblad won her semifinal heat to land in the finals against 14-year-old Tya Zebrowski, of France. Zebrowski nabbed the first score with a 6.67 and backed up with a 5.67.

Lindblad needed just a 5.85, finding a left-hander that offered a nice ramp to do a big carve and a second turn to earn a 6.33 to take the lead, and then another powerful turn on a wave that extended her lead with a 6.67.

As the clock ticked down, Zebrowski took to the air, her surfboard slipping from under her feet and her last chance at a score.

Brother Taj Lindblad, also a pro surfer who has stepped into a coaching role, said there’s been a lot of ups and downs in the last year for his sister, but she continues to put in the hard work to win.

“It’s sick to see it pay off,” he said.

Her experience growing up surfing Huntington Beach paid off — her first contest there was about a decade ago. She knows conditions can vary from day to day.

“I think that’s also what makes Huntington so special. It’s different every single day,” she said. “You can surf here every single day and it will be different every day. I feel like that makes it definitely harder.”

But the pressure was off some for Lindblad this contest, having already secured her spot on the World Tour.

“I felt like I could just relax and surf. Even at the end, I wasn’t even that stressed. Whatever happens, happens,” she said. “Some of it is out of my control, so I was just focusing on what I can do. I’m just really glad I could do it.”

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.

“It’s hard to put into words what it means to me right now,” he said.  “For me to take my first win on the Challenger Series ever, it means everything.”