Kanoa Igarashi claims victory in premiere division at Surfing America Championships
Kanoa Igarashi took out the Under 18 division at Surfing America Championships that went down at Lower Trestles, California, on Saturday, June 23.
The 14-year-old Huntington Beach-resident proved wise beyond his years as he squared-off with Jake Halstead, Cam Richards and Ian Gentil in the finals. Despite being the frailest of them all, Igarashi came down hard on his rivals and asserted himself as
a formidable force to be reckoned with.
“This is my first USA Championship win,” Igarashi beamed. “I've never even won my main divisions and to win in the older division is amazing.”
Taking charge from the word go, the Californian young gun navigated his way through the waves, scouting for a potent opportunity to capitalise on. Energetic and determined as ever, he caught a juicy right to unload a series of fins-free manoeuvres. The effort
went for a high-eight, consequently putting him into an early lead.
Backing it up with another decent wave-score, Igarashi solidified his lead even further. His rivals continued their desperate search for an adequate response for the remainder of 25 minutes, but their efforts turned out to be in vain. Eventually, they had
no choice but to embrace the fact that they had been outdone by the technique of their young Californian competitor.
“I knew I had to surf way beyond what I normally do because these guys are bigger than me and have more power,” Igarashi admitted during his post-final interview. “I can't overpower them so I stuck to doing airs and came out on top. I'm pretty stoked.”
Winning the prestigious summer-time amateur event in Trestles may not have been the first-ever podium for Igarashi, with him winning a record 30 events in just a single season of National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA), but it was definitely the biggest.
He conceded that the win meant a lot to him as last year’s winner Kolohe Andino was currently touring the world while competing for the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title. Therefore, becoming emerging as this year’s champion was indeed
a huge confidence booster for him as far as the next year was concerned.
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