Vans US Open of Surfing Turns On

Are you even surprised that Kelly Slater clocked today’s highest heat total at the Vans US Open of Surfing? No, you aren’t. Those lefts into the pier are Kelly’s jam, and today they played well for him, even squeezing a tube. “There are a few barrels out there,” said Kelly afterwards. “There’s a lot going on and it’s a busy week and you kind of hope for those morning glassy heats, especially when there’s some swell. There’s some energy out there now, but it’s really windy so you’ve got to wait for the second, third or fourth wave and that’s where I got that barrel.” How about that analysis? Nobody breaks it down like the champ. Kelly even pretended that doing airs in front of the crowd made him nervous, which no-one watching the webcast or within earshot believed. “It’s a competitive contest. You get guys that you don’t see in lots of contests and they’ll do well, young guys busting big airs and then the crowds can be intimidating, but you get used to it after a while.” Michel Bourez, who has come on like. a. steamtrain. this year, was electric, and posted the day’s second highest combination. “I’m just back from Bali and waves were amazing over there,” said the Tahitian. “The waves were amazing out here for my heat too. Following Bali, I went home and was training at a beachbreak to get used to similar conditions and it worked well. I’m just here to have fun, see my sponsors and surf this event, it’s one of the biggest of the year and also to see the crowd.” And unsurprisingly, last year’s winner, Julian Wilson, also found a “1” next to his name after his round one heat. “I felt pretty good, but I didn’t feel in synch with the waves,” said Jules. “With 30 minutes, I knew there would be plenty of waves and I knew I’d get my chances. I knew that if I got two fun rights I could make scores.” Catch more grovelling, injections of sizzle, silicon, body art, pier-shotgunning and more, tomorrow, here. All photos: US Open of Surfing/C. Lallande (Unless credited otherwise) VANS US OPEN OF SURFING ROUND 1 RESULTS: Heat 1: Chris Ward (USA) 12.83, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.14, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.77, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 6.60Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.50, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 12.06, Luke Davis (USA) 8.76, Adam Melling (AUS) 8.20Heat 3: Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.70, Adrien Toyon (FRA) 11.20, Jay Thompson (AUS) 11.20, Marlon Lipke (PRT) 9.10Heat 4: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.76, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.30, Dylan Graves (PRI) 12.26, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 11.90Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.77, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.03, Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 12.93, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 12.10Heat 6: Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 14.10, Brett Simpson (USA) 13.83, Stu Kennedy (AUS) 11.76, Olamana Eleogram (HAW) 7.77Heat 7: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.60, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 11.64, Torrey Meister (HAW) 11.00, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 6.84Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.00, Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.40, Keanu Asing (HAW) 12.07, Joan Duru (FRA) 10.44Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.33, Nathaniel Curran (USA) 8.80, Mason Ho (HAW) 8.74, Messias Felix (BRA) 8.20Heat 10: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.50, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 12.14, Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 9.40, Andrew Doheny (USA) 8.14Heat 11: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) 12.60, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 10.30, Chris Friend (AUS) 9.33, Cory Arrambide (USA) 8.54Heat 12: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.67, Nathan Yeomans (USA) 11.80, Heath Joske (AUS) 8.46, Jean Da Silva (BRA )8.13Heat 13: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.20, Garrett Parkes (AUS) 11.97, Heitor Alves (BRA) 11.94, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 6.70Heat 14: Dion Atkinson (AUS) 10.20, Cory Lopez (USA) 9.84, Victor Done (USA) 9.43, Ricardo Dos Santos (BRA) 6.24Heat 15: Granger Larsen (HAW) 12.67, Hodei Collazo (EUK) 8.57, Conner Coffin (USA) 7.53, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 7.24Heat 16: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 13.00, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 12.77, Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.70, Kai Otton (AUS) 10.16Heat 17: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.23, Sunny Garcia (HAW) 11.50, Brian Toth (PRI) 7.50, Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 7.23Heat 18: Michael Dunphy (USA) 12.56, Charles Martin (GLP) 11.37, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.23, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10.00