Lakey Peterson triumphs in women’s Round 1 of Billabong Rio Pro at Arpoador
America’s Lakey Peterson advanced through into the third round of Billabong Rio Pro, the fifth of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, after putting on an impressive performance to clinch victory in the first
heat of Round 1 that kick-off at the alternate event site of Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 9.
Her compatriots Sage Erickson and Courtney Conlogue finished in second and third place respectively, consequently getting relegated to the second round to surf again for the Round 3 spot.
After featuring the Round 1 battles of men’s Billabong Rio Pro for most part of the day, the alternative event venue of Arpoador eventually shifted its focus to the first round of women’s Billabong Rio Pro. The two-to-four foot waves breaking at the event
site were expected to make the battles for the Round 3 spot intense and thus a heavy dose of thrilling action and exquisite performances was expected.
The first heat of Round 1 turned out to be an all-American affair with Peterson taking on Erickson and Conlogue.
Peterson, current No.8 on the ASP Women’s World Title rankings, got off to a shaky start, struggling to get her hands on a promising potential scoring opportunity during the early stages of the heat. However, she was quick to react as a juicy set appeared
in the late stages of the heat. Grabbing the opportunity, she unloaded a string of back-hand blasts to post a near-perfect 9.77 on the score-board. Adding an additional 5.73 to her account off the final wave, she finished with a decisive heat-total of 15.50
points.
“It’s tricky out there and the waves have been slowing down this afternoon,” Peterson said. “It was a really exciting heat and Courtney [Conlogue] and Sage [Erickson] are amazing surfers and it went back and forth so many times. I had a slow start so I was
really aggressive towards the back half of the heat. You really had to be selective and when the set came you had to be on it. It’s always fun to be in heats like that. On my 9, it was just a really good wave and I scratched for position on it.”
Erickson put up a remarkable fight, but her efforts turned out to be in vain as she was forced to settle for second place after finishing with a heat-total of 14.54 points, which included a 6.67 and 7.87-point ride.
Conlogue, the winner of Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic in Australia, was unable to make much of an impression during the three-way battle. She got off to an impressive start, collecting a 7.10 off her first business-wave and immediately followed it up
with a 5.93-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 13.03 points.
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