HUNTINGTON BEACH – The 2012 ASP World Championship Tour season opening Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover wrapped up over the weekend and reigning 11-Time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, FL), 40, and Californian Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), 19, led the American charge, each taking equal fifth-place finishes respectively.
Lakey Peterson (Santa Barbara, CA), 17, who finished equal 3rd at last year’s US Open of Surfing as a wildcard, made her ASP Women’s World tour debut at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast and advanced through to Round 4. The Santa Barbara surfer stormed past French standout Pauline Ado, 21, in Round 2, but was stopped short of a Quarterfinals berth via a rampaging Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 21, in their clash and finished equal 9th overall.
“I’ve been looking forward getting here to the Gold Coast for quite some time since I qualified,” Peterson said. “We’ve had a few months off and I’ve been getting ready and training for this. The waves are fun and the sun came out, and the crowd is amazing. I’m just so happy to be here surfing against my heroes. These girls are so much fun to surf against because it makes me surf better.”
Conlogue started off her season in scorching form at the idyllic pointbreak of Snapper Rocks, defeating fellow American Sage Erickson in Round 2 and Peruvian icon Sofia Mulanovich, 28, in Round 4, but was edged out by four-time ASP Women’s World Champion and eventual Roxy Pro winner Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, in a hard-fought Quarterfinal heat by a score of 16.77 to 16.30.
“That heat was definitely a good heat against Steph (Gilmore),” Conlogue said. “Going in to that heat I just wanted to surf my best and try to get a better result than last year. Going in to Bells with a Quarterfinal result is definitely nice and I am really looking forward to Bells this year.”
Conlogue, who is competing in her Sophomore year among the world’s best surfers, feels more confident on the ASP Women’s World Tour with a year of experience under her belt and is hoping to maintain the early-season success into the upcoming Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.
“I definitely felt more comfortable going into Snapper this year,” Conlogue said. “I knew what to expect and what equipment I needed to be riding. Every event also helps with gaining momentum especially since we had such a long break from the end of last season to the start of this year.”
The next event for both the men’s and women’s ASP World Championship Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, which holds a waiting period from April 3 through 14, 2012.
Slater, a three-time Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast winner, was lethal throughout the opening rounds of the event, but fell shy of advancing out of the Quarterfinals when his run for a repeat victory was stopped by Gold Coast local Josh Kerr (AUS), 27, and earned an equal 5th place finish overall.
“If the waves were better I would be really bummed that I lost,” Slater said. “I got one at the end that I thought would be good, I went for the carving 360 and got stuck. Then I turned around and Josh (Kerr) was on a pretty nice one and he got that air at the end. He’s always going to be a threat in conditions like this where he can throw big airs. I got Josh a few times last year, we had four Quarterfinal battles last year where I got him, so he owed me a couple. It never feels good to lose, but I’m happy for Josh. I’m not sure if I’m going to Bells. I’m just going to go find some good waves in the next few weeks. Then I’ll figure out what I’m going to do for the year.”
For additional information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org
