The US Open Of Surfing Has Concluded, Here Are The Winners

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Caitlin Simmers and Griffin Colapinto

Caitlin Simmers and Griffin Colapinto via WSL

US Open of Surfing Huntington Beach presented by Shiseido has crowned its champions.

The historic contest in Huntington Beach, CA is the opening stop on the 2021 World Surf League Challenger Series and the place where future stars are made. The completion has a long history of crowning champions who will later become some of the greatest surfers to ever hit the water. That could be the same for this year’s winners, Caitlin Simmers (USA) and Griffin Colapinto (USA).

The 15-year-old Simmers was hoisted up in celebration as she took home her first-ever major WSL victory. It has been quite a month for Simmers who just a week ago found herself in a showdown with Caroline Marks in the final of the Super Girl Pro.

“I don’t really have much to say other than I’m really happy and stoked everything went my way,” Simmers said following the win. “I noticed it was really high tide so I couldn’t do what I did in my last heat where I waited 20-minutes for a wave so I just tried to get a quick start. I’m not really trying to qualify and just want to have fun in France and Portugal, and just surf, and enjoy myself.”

Colapinto is another surfer who seems to be on a roll lately. Colapinto, along with his brother and fellow US Open surfer Kolohe Andino have just traveled around the country to promote a surf film they shot in Indonesia in 2020. The Reckless Isolation tour is still underway, but Colapinto took some time out to shred near the Huntington pier. Taking home some hardware is always a plus for Colapinto who hasn’t won a WSL event since he was 16.

“It’s been a long time, I won my last event in a Pro Junior when I was 16 years old and it’s been like a burden on me,” said Colapinto. “I had this weird intuition from the beginning of this contest that it was all going to come together and everything was feeling good. There’s so many people to thank; my parents are massive, my brother, my friends, my grandparents. I’ve just had such great support my whole life. They helped make me who I am today.”

The Challenger Series continues

The next leg in the WSL Challenger Series will take place at the MEO Vissla Pro Ericeira held in Ribeira D’Ilhas, Portugal beginning October 2 – 13. Straight after that will be the Quiksilver Pro France held on October 16 – 24.

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