McCaffray, Slawson Make It A San Diego Sweep At SLO CAL Open at Morro Bay
After a week of challenging conditions on the California Central coast that included blustery offshore winds and an oversized northwest swell, Encinitas surfers Ella McCaffray and Levi Slawson have topped the podium at the SLO CAL Open at Morro Bay.
On the women’s side of the draw, 20-year-old McCaffray was able to hold off hard-charging Canadian and 2024 Olympic surfer Sanoa Dempfle-Olin in the final to take the first WSL Qualifying Series win of her career.
“I'm over the moon, I'm so stoked for my first QS win,” said McCaffray afterwards. “I've been working toward this for a really long time and I'm so happy. I'm definitely trying to requalify for the Challenger Series. We have some big events coming up so I'll get back to training and getting ready for those.”
Meanwhile, for the men, Slawson was able to overcome Oceanside rising star Lucas Owston’s aerial assault. Owston kicked off his campaign in the final by stomping an 8.23 air, but it was Slawson doing work on the open face that would earn him the win. It was Slawson’s second QS victory.
“It feels so good, I work so hard every day of my life for surfing so for all the winning, the highs and lows, surfing is amazing” said Slawson. “I didn’t qualify for the Challenger Series last year after I got on the year before when I was 18. Now I’m coming back and I want to get back on the Challenger Series and want to get on the Championship Tour soon so I feel like I’m getting one step close when I win one of these events.”
With the swell dropping to a more manageable size over the weekend, the Surfing For Hope Longboard Classic in Style is expected to wrap up at Morro Bay on Sunday.
Big Surf Demands Committed Performances At SLO CAL Open At Morro Bay
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.