Aaron Cormican and JD Lewis survive tough conditions in Round 1 of ASP 4-Star Vans Pier Classic
America’s Aaron Cormican and his fellow countryman JD Lewis prevailed in their respective Round 1 (Round of 144) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Vans Pier Classic that continued at the Huntington Beach Pier in California, America,
on Wednesday, March 28.
Both Cormican and Lewis advanced through into the next round (Round of 128) of the event after their success in Round 1. Diego Naranjo and Eli Olson secured their place in Round 2 as well after taking first runner-up place in the fifth and sixth heat respectively.
The surfing conditions at the primary event site turned out to be far from ideal. While the size of the waves was pretty good, ranging between two-to-four feet, their frequency was becoming a source of immense discomfort for the surfers.
As the fifth heat got underway, all four surfers in the four-man battle, which included Cormican, Naranjo, Takayuki Wakita and Yosuke Kodama, struggled to find decent waves.
Cormican eventually managed to claim top honours in the low-scoring battle after finishing with a heat-total of 9.33 points, which included a 4.50 and 4.83-point wave.
Naranjo made his way through into the next round as well after scoring a 9.13 on the score-board, which included a 5.33 and 3.80-point wave.
Wakita scored a 3.50 and 5.13 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 8.63 points, whereas Kodama rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 3.83 points. Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The sixth heat pitted Lewis against Olson, Levi Gonzalez and Diego Salgado in a battle for the Round 2 spot.
Once again, the battle turned out to be a low-scoring affair as the surfers struggled to find big scores in demanding conditions.
The Cardiff-based Lewis opened his account with a 4.50-point wave and went on to add an additional 4.93 points to his account. The resultant heat-total of 9.43 points proved to be more than sufficient to earn him the win and thus take him through into the
next round.
Olson accompanied Lewis to Round 2 after finishing behind him in runner-up place with a heat-total of 8.16 points, which comprised of a 4.33 and 3.83-point wave.
Gonzales and Salgado rounded out the bottom-two positions after finishing with a heat-total of 7.60 and 4.24 points. As a result, both the surfers found themselves out of the contention for the event title.
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