Carissa Moore takes on surfing elite in men’s Vans Triple Crown of Surfing 2011 (Part 2)
All eyes were on the 19-year-old Carissa Moore from Hawaii as she accepted the offer made to her by Vans pertaining to the wildcard entry into the first two events of the highly prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, namely the Reef Hawaiian Pro and the
Vans Hawaiian Pro. There was a lot for the young Hawaiian to gain from the opportunity that had presented itself to her, giving her a chance to cap off the year with yet another memorable performance and further glorify the repute that she had earned in the
current year.
As the first of the three events on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series, the Reef Hawaiian Pro, got off to a delayed start at Haleiwa, the famed North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, on November 21, the crowd remained deprived of witnessing Moore in action as
she got a direct pass into the Round of 96 (Round 2) without having to compete in the Round of 128 (Round 1).
After a long wait, the time came to finally catch the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Champion in action. The moment had arrived when the young Hawaiian star was going to take on the men, who were believed to be the true ambassadors
of the sport instead of the fairer gender. Everyone was eager to see whether Moore would be able to defy all odds and prove that the female surfers had the capacity in them to take on the sharks of surfing.
The Honolulu-based Moore found herself pitted against her compatriots Roy Powers and Ian Gentil, along with America’s Cory Lopez in a shortened 20-minute heat of Round 2. If anyone was expecting to witness Moore slaying dragons, they found themselves utterly
disappointment. Moore was unable to clinch victory and in fact finished in fourth place after merely scoring a heat-total of 5.60 points, which consequently led to her elimination from the competition.
If anyone is using the outcome of the heat as a measure of Moore’s performance and her potential as a surfer, then they will definitely be sitting with a disappointing and quite misleading result. Scores may have shown the 19-year-old Hawaiian faltering
in front of her male competitors, but in no way did they reveal or do justice to the determined effort and persistence shown by her during the battle.
There was a real scarcity of juicy waves and she found herself competing against three equally pumped up surfers to get on them first. Powers was the only one who was able to collect a high-scoring wave during the bout, while a couple of modest scores by
Gentil carried him off to safety. With the likes of Lopez failing to clinch a good position, one could only feel sympathy for Moore for finding her possible moment of glory fall victim to the challenging surfing conditions.
Talking to a reporter after her Round 2 heat, Moore admitted that she had put up a lacklustre performance, while further adding that, “I am so stoked that I have the opportunity to surf in the first two events of the Triple Crown but I honestly was pretty
disappointed with myself and in my performance today. I think that if I was even surfing with the girls I probably would not have made the heat. In that respect, my overall performance did not meet my standards. But that is the way it goes sometimes and it
was great to just be in that atmosphere with the guys and I learn a lot when I lose. That gets me fired up.”
Putting the disappointing performance at Haleiwa behind her while gaining valuable experience, Moore made her way to Sunset Beach for the second event in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series, Reef Hawaiian Pro, which she was to compete in her first heat
in Round of 96 (Round 2) on November 28.
We will be taking a look at how Moore performed at Vans Hawaiian Pro in the next part of the article which would not only contain an analysis of how well the young Hawaiian held her on while surrounded by the big boys of surfing, but will also discuss what
she gained from the experience and how it may contribute to her growth as a surfer.
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