The ISA World Surfing Games is due to kick off in Huntingdon Beach, California today.
The event, which runs from 14-22nd October is an International Surfing Association sanctioned event. Hosted by Surfing America, this will be the 21st edition of the biennial contest that determines the world’s top surfing nations and awards individual surfing titles and medals in the categories of shortboard surfing (men and women), bodyboard (men and women) and longboard.
Top surfers from more than 35 nations, including Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Tahiti, United Kingdom, Sweden, Panama, Hawaii, Cote d’Ivoire, Venezuela, Colombia, and the United States will be represented at the opening ceremony scheduled for October 14th from 2-4pm; competitions will run October 15-21; an awards ceremony will be held in the afternoon of October 22nd.
The Games were last held in the United States — and Huntington Beach — in 1996, when a U.S. team led by Taylor Knox, who won the individual gold, and Shane Beschen triumphed. Ten years later, the US team, whose best finish since was sixth place in 1998 in Portugal, appears poised for another strong finish with twins C.J. and Damien Hobgood, Pat O’Connell and Chris Ward all confirmed on the team.
Australia and Brazil seem the most likely threats to the US, with WCT standouts Tom Whitaker, Luke Stedman and Jessie Miley-Dyer on the Australian side and Brazil’s roster looking especially strong in the open women’s division, with Jacqueline Silva and Diana de Souza adept in beach break conditions such as those at Huntington Beach.
315 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Tel:858-551-5292
Event Schedule
Opening Ceremonies – Parade of Nations and Sands of the World ceremony
Saturday, October 14th, 2-4pm, Huntington Beach Pier.
Competition – Sunday, October 15th – Sunday, October 22nd, 2006.
*Schedule subject to change
Sunday, October 15th
8am: Body Board Men, Body Board Women
10am: Long board
Monday, October 16th
8am – 4pm – OPEN Division
Tuesday, October 17th
8am – 4pm – OPEN Division
8am – 4pm – Womens
Wednesday, October 18th
8am – 4pm – All Divisions
Thursday, October 19th
8am – 4pm – All Divisions
Friday, October 20th
8am – 4pm – All Divisions
Saturday, October 21st
8am – 4pm – Semi Finals
Sunday, October 22nd
9am – 2pm – Finals followed by Awards Ceremony.
Live coverage: All of the action will be streaming live at http://surfingamerica.org/isa and www.isasurf.org.
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