Introduction:
The 2022 Vans U.S. Open of Surfing will be returning to Surf City USA from July 30th through August 7th. Located on the south side of the Huntington Beach pier, this nine-day action sports festival will include a surf, skate, and BMX competition as well as several engaging activities for all ages to enjoy. With over 300 world-class athletes attending this event, the U.S. Open of Surfing is recognized as the world's largest professional sports competition and action sports festival in the world. This year, it will be hosting the fourth stop of the Men & Women World Surf League Challenger Series. All 160 surf contestants will be competing for qualification for the Championship Tour from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm daily. Finals are held on August 7th. On day 6, the Vans Duct Tape Invitational men’s and women’s longboard competition will take over the water. Whether you enjoy watching shortboarding or longboarding, the U.S. Open has it all. However, professionals aren't the only surfers in the water. Organizers partnered up with Native Like Water, Stoked Mentoring, HB Rangers Program, and City Surf Project to create a Vans Surf Camp. On the mornings of August 3rd and 4th, The Vans Surf Camp will teach the general public how to surf. The entire event is open to the public from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm daily. Additionally, there are several anticipated activities and workshops scheduled daily, including surfboard shaping workshops, music lessons, and much more. In addition to the surf competition, Skateboarding and BMX are returning to the sand this year. The Vans BMX Waffle Cup will kick off the festival on July 30th. On the last weekend of the festival, the most relevant worldwide street skaters will celebrate skate culture. There are noticeably so many fun activities happening this week, but my favorite part of the US Open will always be watching the amazing surfers from all around the world! If you are planning to attend this event, you will want to arrive early to guarantee yourself a parking spot. This is a very popular event and it gets very crowded quickly.
(written on July 25, 2022)
Theme:
The 2022 VUSOS theme is focused on the importance of environmental responsibility. Environmental consciousness is incorporated into the entire event with the goal to focus on the connection between the environment, surf culture, and sustainability. For example, artwork will be featured on the sand that was created using trash found during a beach cleanup in 2019. Additionally, Vans teamed up with several non-profits to create an educational component. I am extremely excited about this theme because I think that it will spark important conversations about environmental responsibility. Educating the surf community about this topic is extremely necessary.
(written on July 25, 2022)
My experience:
I attended the competition on July 31st, the second day of the event, and I’m so excited to share my experience with you. You won’t hear me say this very often, but waking up at 5:30 in the morning was definitely worth it. I carpooled with one of my best friends, Anna, and my boyfriend, Grant. We arrived around 7:20 A.M, just in time for the first heat. If you’re planning to attend the competition I recommend getting there early. There was plenty of parking and the beach wasn’t too crowded yet, so we were able to get an amazing seat right in front of the surfers. We watched the first two heats and had such an amazing time. The waves were not great, but it was amazing to see how well everyone performed in such bad wave conditions. At 9, the majority of the shops on the sand opened so we went to explore. Our first stop was the WSL store. However, we had to stop for a free breakfast sandwich on the way. There were so many clothing and accessory options at the WSL store, including jerseys. After buying posters for our new rooms, we walked directly across to the Vans store. The Vans store was filled with clothing and accessory options for sale, but Anna and I were instantally drawn to the customs station. We got to customize our shirts for only $30. There was also the option to customize shoes as well. The entire process was so much fun and reasonably priced. In addition to all the clothing options, the Vans store had several art pieces representing the theme, of environmental responsibility. The art was beautiful and did an excellent job of bringing awareness to the importance of environmental responsibility. In fact, the entire event did an excellent job of that. The Sustainable Coastlines of Hawaii team was hosting an interactive booth at the community market to bring awareness to the fact that plastic pollution in Hawaii is directly connected to the world, including Huntington Beach. In addition, there were several other amazing booths at the community market that all tied directly to the theme. For example, the Stitchbox crew offered free wetsuit repair for the entire community throughout the entire event. Their company goal is to keep wetsuits in the water and out of the landfill. Additionally, the shaping bay used eco-friendly materials with Golden State Glassing and Shred Co. There were several other vendors, including Pura Vida, Vinyl Solution, and several more. After visiting the community market, we decided that it was time to grab some lunch and head back to the surf competition. Luckily, Steve Van Doren, Vans co-founder Paul’s son, was on the grill from 12-2 daily. Once again, he was serving up free hotdogs and hamburgers. While waiting for our burgers, we were able to check out some of the games and music. We got our burgers, stopped at Duke's for a pie, headed back to watch the competition, and spent the rest of the day cheering on the surfers. It was eventually time to go home, but we made sure to stop for a free snow cone and a free açaí bowl on the walk back to our car. It was such an amazing day and I am so thankful to experience some normality back in our lives. This was the first year the competition was being held since the beginning of Covid and it truly did feel so good to be back. Later in the week, Hurricane Frank hit Southern California and brought some big-wave action to Huntington Beach. It was a very unexpected, pleasant surprise for everyone involved in the competition. In fact, Frank ended up being the best hurricane swell in SoCal since Rosa in 2018. I went back later in the week to watch the competition during the swell and it was incredible. Both days that I visited were amazing for several different reasons. I am so thankful to live so close to the world's largest professional sports competition and action sports festival in the world.
(written on August 9, 2022)
Results:
On Sunday, Hawaiian surfers swept the men’s and women’s surfing finals. Ezekiel Lau won the men’s division with a final score of 12.40. 17-year-old Bettylou Sakura Johnson won the women’s division with a two-wave score of 12.00. They were both awarded the $20,000 winning prize.
The Duct Tape Invitational longboarding finals were also Hawaiian dominant; 3 out of the 4 finalists were Hawaiian. Kelis Kaleopa’a from Hawaii won the women’s division with a score of 12.97. Taylor Jensen from San Diego, CA won the men’s division with a final score of 13.84.
Over at The Vans Showdown skate competition, Jhancarlos Gonzalez of Colombia and Hayley Wilson of Australia each took home the $10,000 winning prize. Mason Silva from Manhattan Beach and Wenhui (Zoe) Zeng from China were awarded the best trick awards.
Kevin Peraza from Arizona took home the first place 10,000 prize at the Vans BMX Waffle Cup men’s division. Perris Benegas from Nevada took home the prize for the women’s division.
(written on August 9, 2022)
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