Epic Surf, Epic Performances At SLO CAL Open Pismo Beach
While all eyes are on Hawaii for the start of the 2024 Championship Tour season, the grind was on over the weekend in Central California as the SLO CAL Open Pismo Beach wrapped up in epic, summer-like conditions. Taking the win in the Qualifying Series event was Malibu’s Talia Swindal and San Clemente’s Taj Lindblad.
“It’s been a hard year,” a grateful Lindblad said afterwards. “Just getting through that tough time and grinding through it paid off.”
Coming from a true California surf family, this week Lindblad will watch his sister, Sawyer, kick off her rookie season on the Championship Tour. Drawing inspiration from her successes, he opened up his campaign in the finals with a near-perfect 9.40 and was off to the races from there, beating Mexico's Alan Cleland.
“We talk almost every day. We’re super close and always trying to help each other out,” confirmed Sawyer last week.
For Swindal, the win was an emotional one as she dedicated it to Malibu surfer Lyon Herron, who recently succumb to a long fight with cancer.
“I want to dedicate this win to Lyon Herron, Lyon forever,” shared Swindal, who earned the win over hyper-talented Bella Kenworthy.
“It was so special to share that Final with Bella. I know she can throw a 9 or a 10 whenever she has to so I'm never comfortable out there with her having priority and needing a score,” she added.
Taking the win in the pro junior ranks was Canada’s Sanoa Dempfle-Olin, who we’ll see later this year in the Olympics, and California’s Kai Kushner.
For the effort, Swindal now moves into a tie for first on the North America Qualifying Series with San Clemente's Kirra Pinkerton. Lindblad now sits fifth on the men's rankings. Both surfers will be looking to punch their ticket to the 2024 Challenger Series later this year, where they'll then have the chance to fight for a spot on the elite Championship Tour.
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With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.