GRANDE PLAGE, Lacanau – France (Wednesday, August 14, 2013) – Day 2 of the ASP 5-Star Soöruz Lacanau Pro started in clean 1-2Ft surf this morning, allowing the competition to complete the remaining heats of the Round of 96. The last bumps of a fading north-west swell quickly disappeared however, forcing organizers to call competition off before noon.
Portugal’s Frederico Morais (PRT) 21, was untouchable today, tearing every wave he took to pieces on his way to qualifying for the top seeded rounds. The powerful regular footer from Cascais has taken his surfing to a whole new level during the winter break to complete his transformation from an up-and-coming Junior to a solid star-tour campaigner.
“I was a bit stressed before the heat watching the conditions with my coach because there weren’t many waves,” Morais said. “I found a couple fun ones and I’m super stoked! I’ve been campaigning in South America earlier this year with mixed results but it was a great experience, my goal is to crack the Top 100 to enter all the primes next year!”
“We’ve been working a lot on the health and fitness side of training this past winter, as well as technical and tactical aspects of winning heats,” Morais continued. “The whole Billabong team is super well prepared, the Juniors have been killing it so far! I’ve been putting together some freesurfing parts as well. It’s a lot of fun and also important to show everyone what we’ve been busy doing at home, watch out for another clip dropping soon!”
Ian Gouveia (BRA) 20, was the first surfer out this morning when competition recommenced, and perfectly read the lineup finding scoring opportunities when the sets came. The Brazilian was in total control of his 20mn heat from start to finish and was never threatened by his competitors while netting one of the highest heat totals of the day.
“The waves were alright, I’m lucky that they stopped just before my heat yesterday and I got to surf glassy conditions this morning.” Gouveia stated. “It’s a little hard to go out there first, because you really don’t know what the judges are going to reward so basically you have to surf the way conditions allow you to.”
Former World Championship Tour surfer Nathaniel Curran (USA) 29, managed to advance through a tricky heat opposed to New York’s Balaram Stack and two french up-and-comers Tom Cloarec and Jorgann Couzinet. The powerful Californian navigated the difficult knee-high conditions, solidifying his heat win.
“There weren’t many waves out there, you can tell the swell is dying,” Curran said. “I managed to catch a couple, my first wave was pretty good so it kind of helps to take the pressure off. I didn’t do many comps at the beginning of this year, it’s been a slow start for me so I’m just trying to pick-up some points and get back in the Top 100. It’s hard this year, many events have been cancelled and there’s not many at home so it’s a little tough for everyone.”
Edouard Delpero (FRA) 23, last year’s No.5 in the ASP longboard world title race, proved today that his shortboard game is also notable, taking full advantage of his light weight and explosiveness to advance ahead of two experienced competitors from the USA.
“You’ve got to be very opportunist out there and take anything you can,” Delpero commented. “I had a good rythm, I’m quite used to those sort of conditions and even though it’s tough I managed to get a little speed. That’s one of the first major events for me this year and it’s good to get that first heat out of the way, I’ll take every opportunity here to get experience and build confidence for the next.”
Next Call has been set to 8AM tomorrow for a potential re-start to the Round of 96 with Heat 7.
The 2013 Soöruz Lacanau Pro is scheduled from August 13-18, 2013 at Grande Plage, Lacanau – France. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast, log on to aspeurope.com.
The Sooruz Lacanau Pro is made possible with the support of the following event partners: Soöruz, Airwalk, Ice Watches, NRJ, Red Bull and Smurfit amongst others.
UPCOMING SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND OF 64 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Sidney Guimaraes (BRA), Connor O’Leary (AUS), Imanol Yeregi (EUK) Heat 2: Joan Duru (FRA), Chris Friend (AUS), Leandro Usuna (ARG), Jose Ferreira (PRT) Heat 3: Alex Ribeiro (BRA), Cory Arrambide (USA), Jordin Watson (AUS), Soli Bailey (AUS) Heat 4: Peterson Crisanto (BRA), Marco Fernandez (BRA), David Van Zyl (ZAF), Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) Heat 5: Jesse Mendes (BRA), Kaito Ohashi (JNP), Hiroto Arai (JPN), Medi Veminardi (REU) Heat 6: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP), Ryan Callinan (AUS), Dylan Lightfoot (ZAF) Heat 7: Charles Martin (GLP), Marlon Lipke (PRT), Ian Gouveia (BRA), Diego Mignot (FRA) Heat 8: Aritz Aranburu (EUK), Pedro Henrique (BRA), Steven Pierson (PYF), Francisco Bellorin (VEN) Heat 9: Marc Lacomare (FRA), Paul Cesar Distinguin (FRA), Thiago Guimaraes (BRA), Timothee Bisso (GLP) Heat 10: Conner Coffin (USA), Santiago Muniz (ARG), Jake Davis (USA), Bruno Rodrigues (BRA) Heat 11: Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Bino Lopes (BRA), Nathaniel Curran (USA), Chase Wilson (USA) Heat 12: Krystian Kymerson (BRA), Romain Cloitre (FRA), Edouard Delpero (FRA), Balaram Stack (USA) Heat 13: David Do Carmo (BRA), Gavin Gillette (HAW), Frederico Morais (PRT), Nicolas Remi (FRA) Heat 14: Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Nic Von Rupp (DEU), Mateia Hiquily (PYF), Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) Heat 15: Billy Stairmand (NZL), Vicente Romero (ESP), Romain Laulhe (FRA), Oney Anwar (IDN) Heat 16: Willian Cardoso (BRA), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Nomme Mignot (FRA), Halley Batista (BRA)
SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND OF 96 RESULTS:
Heat 7: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 13.84, Francisco Bellorin (VEN) 11.93, Todd Rosewall (AUS) 10.77, Taylor Clark (USA) 9.73 Heat 8: Steven Pierson (PYF) 13.26, Diego Mignot (FRA) 11.10, Mihimana Braye (PYF) 7.77, Lucas Santamaria (ARG) 6.37 Heat 9: Thiago Guimaraes (BRA) 13.10, Bruno Rodrigues (BRA) 11.60, Filipe Jervis (PRT) 8.57, Dylan Goodale (HAW) 6.61 Heat 10: Jake Davis (USA) 10.53, Timothee Bisso (GLP) 9.57, Matt-Lewis Hewitt (NZL) 8.47, Ian Crane (USA) 8.08 Heat 11: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 11.67, Balaram Stack (USA) 10.07, Tom Cloarec (FRA) 8.70, Jorgann Couzinet (REU) 4.23 Heat 12: Edouard Delpero (FRA) 10.76, Chase Wilson (USA) 10.00, Matt Pagan (USA) 9.57, Gaspard Larsonneur (FRA) 9.40 Heat 13: Frederico Morais (PRT) 17.47, Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 13.17, Pablo Goncalves (REU) 7.83, Miguel Tudela (PER) 3.77 Heat 14: Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 10.67, Nicolas Remi (FRA) 9.40, Hodei Collazo (EUK) 6.77, Miguel Blanco (PRT) 6.07 Heat 15: Romain Laulhe (FRA) 12.00, Halley Batista (BRA) 9.60, Davey Brand (ZAF) 8.74, Alan Donato (BRA) 8.40 Heat 16: Nomme Mignot (FRA) 13.67, Oney Anwar (IDN) 10.53, Phillip Goold (USA) 10.40, Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 6.60
