Page 6 - MidWeek West - August 24, 2022

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AUGUST 24, 2022
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
The big news we’ve been waiting two years for was the 19th annual Duke’s Oceanfest. We kicked off Aug. 20 with the new swell building, just in time. It was Mother Nature blessing the weeklong ocean festival and celebrating the spirit of the great Duke Kahanamoku.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Duke’s Oceanfest Includes Various Competitions
The festivities include much more than longboard- ing and shortboarding, tan- dem, paddleboarding and standup surf racing. There’s also a 1-mile swim race, a canoe regatta in honor of
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The World Champion- ship Tour has come to its
PHOTO COURTESY DUKE’S OCEANFEST
final contest, before the fi- nal contest. Meaning, we’re on the last regular format of competition of the year. It’s the ninth contest and it’s in Tahiti.
The Outerknown Tahiti Pro comes just before the very last single day of WCT competi- tion, crowning our two new world champs. This big finals day is in September at Trestles
It doesn’t matter if you come into the contest at No. 1 by a big margin prior to this grand finale. For exam- ple, Brazil’s Filipe Toledo has over 53,000 points and
GQ, dropping in 4 U!
wounded warriors, surfboard water polo, beach volleyball, foil surfing, AccesSurf adap- tive surfing — even a Red Bull Party Wave and Raising Cane’s Going to the Dogs Surfur competition. This last competition will be “ruff” — sorry, I couldn’t resist.
in Southern California.
This new format has only
California’s Griffin Colap- into only has 36,800 points prior to finishing any heats in Tahiti. Well, Colapinto can overtake Toledo by having a really good day. Normally, Colapinto’s chances wouldn’t be likely going from No. 5 to No. 1 in a single contest. But now? Any of the top five have a chance at history.
View it all from Waikīkī beaches if you just want to watch from the shoreline. It’s the best people-watching show in paradise.
Raising Cane’s Going to the Dogs Surfur Competition takes place in Waikīkī.
The new post pandemic design has totally evolved. The top rated five men and five women from the preced- ing nine events go for broke for just one day to determine the 2022 world champ.
The new WCT configura- tion is nuts. There’s plenty of controversy as many prefer the old way. But, I’m all in either way, and can’t wait.
happened once before. It ran last year and helped Carissa Moore win her fifth title and Gabriel Medina his third.
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com