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VENTURA BODYSURFING CLASSIC 2019

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Saturday December 7th brought solid surf, rain, and over 100 bodysurfers to the Ventura Harbor for the annual Ventura Bodysurfing Classic. This event is the flagship competitive event of the South Jetty Swells Bodysurfing Association held every winter. This year marked not only some of the best waves in the history of bodysurfing competitions, but the final event of the California Bodysurfing Tour.

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Event organizers scrambled when faced with a 6-10 foot swell forecast. Extra lifeguards and emergency services were organized, and a “Big Wave Scoring Format” was put into place. The main difference in this format change was giving competitors extra time in each heat. This would allow them to not only reach the lineup in time, but to be more selective when choosing what waves to take off on. The weather, aside from light drizzle, cooperated with light offshore winds all day long.

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Chris Ford of Ojai, and Meredith Rose from Del Mar were unbeatable and won the Grand final in stellar fashion. Chris was able to catch one of the best rides of the day in the Grand Final heat, taking off on a set wave, threading a low tide barrel, performing multiple maneuvers, and finishing the wave with a powerful lip bash on the inside. As his brother David said “If you want to win at this event you need to beat the locals”, but nobody could this year. Coming all the way from Hawaii, Dane Torres of Oahu dominated the Junior Men’s division. He was able to negotiate the powerful winter swells with ease applying traditional wave riding skills along with progressive above the lip maneuvers. Winning the Legends division along with the California Bodysurfing Tour was Southern California legend Mark Drewelow. He competed in all four tour stops and proved to be the most consistent surfer of the year. Meredith Rose took the Women’s tour championship and solidified herself as the top female athlete of the year. 16 year old Cayden Durrett from San Diego was the winner of the under 18 Grommet division.

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The California Bodysurf Tour featured close to 300 athletes competing in four events from Huntington Beach to Santa Cruz. It was a huge success and we look forward to next years tour. Please stay tuned for announcements regarding next year’s events.

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Thank you all who attended and participated.

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