The Vans U.S. Open of Surfing competition recently held at Huntington Beach.
The Vans U.S. Open of Surfing took on Surf City USA in early August. The surfing competition was hosted in Huntington Beach and was capped off with Hawaiian surfer Ezekiel Lau being crowned as the champion on August 7.
“It feels great. It’s definitely been a long week, there’s been a lot of conditions. I’ve been feeling the love here in H.B.,” said Lau to the OC Register. “I just want to thank everyone for coming out, I just really love the support from everyone here, it really makes a difference. I’m just glad I could perform for you all.”
The event ran for nine days and marked the return for the world’s largest action-sports festival. The festival was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, but 2021 saw a smaller-scale surf event. But this year, the event brought together the world’s best surfers, skateboarders, and BMX riders to Huntington Beach.
“When the waves are big everything is fun,” said David Kohn, a fan who has been attending the event for more than 40 years according to ABC 7. “Every wave they take off on is exciting.”
The vice president of IMG Action Sports, the organization that put on the event, explained that a hurricane swell helped make the waves even bigger for the surfers.
“Basically, it’s allowing a lot of the surfers to be able to really work the pier and really highlight Huntington as the greatest break,” Jennifer Lau said.
Kohn expressed admiration for how hard the surfers work in the competition.
“It’s much more difficult to paddle back out and get another wave because the size and the current, so the guys are struggling and they’re running back up the shore as opposed to paddling out,” Kohn added.
