LES BOURDAINES, Seignosse – France (Friday, June 1, 2012) ? The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Swatch Girls Pro France main event and Pro Junior were both called off today due to a decreasing swell. This morning conditions are not contestable with less than 1 foot waves breaking at Les Bourdaines, event organizers have opted to call competition off for today.
“Our forecast was spot on and today despite being a great sunny day with light offshore winds, there is not enough swell to run the competition,” Gerard D’Avezac, Swatch Girls Pro Contest Director said. “Even the Juniors who are young and light surfers couldn’t showcase their skills in those conditions. We’re getting to the business end of both events and it is important for surfers to have the best possible conditions to battle it out for the prize-money and ranking points on offer here.”
Julie Audibert, organizer of the event, has come up with a busy off-event program and intends to take full advantage of a beautiful summer day in South-West France. With light winds and expected high temperatures this afternoon, this is the perfect occasion to invite everyone to come spend a great day on the beach and watch some of the best surfers in the world having fun and putting their competitive minds to the test.
“This year we’re organizing a Water Challenge instead of the traditional Tag Team,” said Audibert. “We’re keeping the Team Spirit but also bringing change to the program. It’s a great opportunity for all our media to meet the girls and spend time with them in the water as we’re mixing teams of surfers, medias and event staff. Basically we place a buoy out in the ocean and have teams racing around with stand-up paddles and other watercrafts. We also had planned a lot for night entertainment this weekend, but with the new forecast we had to change it a little. Now tonight we’re having what was supposed to be our closing party, a beach party and barbecue as well as an iPod battle with iPods and holiday trips up for grabs, on-site here from 7pm. 100 tickets are offered to the public, to get them simply go to the Swatch Store in Hossegor and ask for one!”
Event officials have set the next call for 7am tomorrow morning (Saturday, June 2nd). Forecasts show a pulse in swell and favourable winds in the morning that should allow the event to finish in the afternoon with the crowning of both the Swatch Girls Pro France Champion and Pro Junior Champion.
The 2012 Swatch Girls Pro France and Pro Junior will run from May 30 to June 3 in Hossegor / Seignosse, France. All results, photos, videos, news and LIVE webcast are available through www.swatchgirlspro.com
The Swatch Girls Pro France and Pro Junior are made possible with the support of the following event partners: SWATCH, iConcept, Groupe Slavi, Federation Française de Surf, Landes Côte Sud, Conseil Général des Landes, Région Aquitaine, Unbottle Yourself, Waxy Wax, SeventyOne Percent, Cafés Richard, N’PY, Piau-Engaly, MagicSeaWeed,Surf-Report, ViewSurf, Let’s Motiv, Lamono, MPORA, Cooler, NRJ, Surf Session, H Magazine, Adrénaline – L’Équipe.fr, Surf Europe amongst others.
UPCOMING SWATCH GIRLS PRO FRANCE RD OF 12 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Sage Erickson (USA), Courtney Conlogue (USA), Sarah Baum (ZAF) Heat 2: Pauline Ado (FRA), Cannelle Bulard (REU), Alessa Quizon (HAW) Heat 3: Paige Hareb (NZL), Malia Manuel (HAW), Alizee Arnaud (FRA) Heat 4: Leila Hurst (HAW), Suelen Naraisa (BRA), Alana Blanchard (HAW)
UPCOMING SWATCH GIRLS PRO FRANCE JUNIOR QUARTER-FINALS MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Leila Hurst (HAW), Lucia Martino (ESP) Heat 2: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Johanne Defay (FRA) Heat 3: Maud Le Car (FRA), Cannelle Bulard (REU) Heat 4: Bronte Macaulay (AUS), Philippa Anderson (AUS)
