HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA.—Amidst an estimated 150,000 fans lining the entire pier and watching from shore, Brett Simpson, 24, defeated 2007 world champion Mick Fanning (Australia) and found himself holding a check for $100,000 Sunday afternoon.
Simpson, who received the honor of being a 2009 Surfing Walk of Fame inductee a few days earlier, was living his dream.
“Anybody who’s ever done a contest at home knows how amazing that is just to wake up and have a perfect routine everyday. That’s how I felt here [this week]. I made it to Sunday, and I ended up winning. So, it’s just icing on the cake [to win] the first contest with the highest prize money. It’s a dream come true,” he said.
Simpson thanked his family, especially his mother, for supporting him.
Originally held in 1959, the U.S. Open of Surfing is a week-long competition held annually during the summer in Huntington Beach, and it is part of the qualification process for the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world tour.
In addition to surfing, this year’s event sponsors, Hurley and Nike 6.0, included professional BMX biking and skateboarding, among other events.
Superlatives were commonplace at this year’s Open. In addition to offering the largest purse ever, event sponsors attracted the world’s top surfers who were tested in the biggest waves some competitors have ever surfed in Huntington Beach.
“This is definitely the biggest I’ve ever surfed Huntington,” said Rob Machado, three-time U.S. Open champion and perennial crowd favorite from Cardiff, San Diego.
“The swell’s coming from thousands of miles away from New Zealand. There’s really a lot of energy out there—a lot of water moving. It’s a lot more challenging. But it’s great. It’s really exciting for everyone—for the surfers, for the spectators. There have been some great moments.”
One of those moments came when nine-time world champion, Kelly Slater, dropped into a 15-foot face, completed a rail-holding bottom turn, became covered in the barrel of the wave, then emerged unscathed moments before the monster closed out. The 25-foot mountain of whitewash did catch up to him, however, as he rode towards shore. He scored a perfect 10.
Slater advanced to the quarter finals, where he lost to ASP third-ranked Adriano de Souza from Brazil.
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