Andersen Finally Catches a Break, Wins Women’s Title

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  After a week of poor surfing and energy-zapping waves, Lisa Andersen was at the end of her rope Saturday.

So when Andersen paddled out for her heat in the women’s championship at the U.S. Open of Surfing, she was so tired that she just wanted to let the current take her on down the beach.

Fortunately for Andersen, Hurricane Guillermo was weakening and she was able to shrug off her frustration to win the Open women’s title.

“I had a tough week,” said Andersen, referring to her fourth-place finish in the Wahine’s finals and elimination in the first round of the men’s open division. “This is the hardest contest I’ve ever surfed at.

“The strong waves and the current we had this week took a lot out of me. And even the guys were talking about how difficult it was to paddle out in these conditions. It came together today.”

Andersen also got a break as competitor Layne Beachley committed a costly error late in the heat.

Beachley, the defending Open women’s champion, decided to catch a wave instead of remaining where she was and hold wave priority over Andersen. As a result, Andersen immediately caught a wave that scored enough points for her to take the lead and the title.

“I should have set and wait, but I was impatient,” said Beachley, who is from Australia. “That paddle of mine cost me $3,000.”

In the men’s open division, Tom Curren’s string of nine consecutive wins in heats ended Saturday as the former three-time world champion finished third in his third-round heat and failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

Curren, who is attempting a comeback, said he’s fine with his finish.

“It would have been great if I had advanced,” Curren said, “but I was surfing against some good guys. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. And I’m happy with my results.”

Kelly Slater, the defending world champion, recorded one of the highest scores of the tournament to win his heat and advance. Slater’s 9.33 ride, which consisted of a barrel ride, some cutbacks and floaters, took the Florida surfer to the shore break.

County surfers who advanced to the quarterfinals included Jeff Booth of Laguna Beach, Shea Lopez of San Clemente and Ryan Simmons of Huntington Beach.

Simmons, who is competing in his second Open, was particularly impressive in his seventh-round heat that included Slater.

“I’ve never surfed against Kelly before, so I was a little nervous,” Simmons said. “But after a few minutes, I was all right. I wish it was better, but I’m still happy I advanced.”

The men’s open finals conclude today.

In longboarding, Joel Tudor of La Jolla, defended his Open title, scoring a 9.67 ride with nose rides and 360s.

“It doesn’t get better than this,” said Tudor, 22, when describing the conditions. “It was like cutting butter out there.”

Finishing second was Huntington Beach’s Josh Mohr, who had some impressive rides in the final. San Clemente’s Josh Baxter finished third and Geoff Moysa, also from San Clemente, was fourth.

In bodyboarding, Spencer Skipper of Hawaii had one of the more impressive heats in the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will be contested today.

Saturday’s results:

KAHLUA WOMEN’S OPEN

Finals

1. Lisa Andersen (Florida); 2. Layne Beachley (Australia).

Semifinals

HEAT 1--1. Andersen; 2. Pam Burridge (Australia). HEAT 2--1. Beachley; 2. Trudy Todd (Australia).

Quarterfinals

HEAT 1--1. Andersen; 2. Serena Brooke (Australia). HEAT 2--1. Burridge; 2. Neridah Falconer (Australia). HEAT 3--1. Beachley; 2. Rochelle Ballard (Hawaii). HEAT 4--1. Todd; 2. Pauline Menczer (Australia).

LONGBOARD

Finals

1. Joel Tudor (La Jolla); 2. Josh Mohr (Huntington Beach); 3. Josh Baxter (San Clemente); 4. Geoff Moysa (San Clemente).

Semifinals

HEAT 1--1. Tudor; 2. Baxter; 3. Greg Briggs (San Clemente)); 4. Israel Paskowitz (San Clemente). HEAT 1--1. Mohr; 2. Moysa; 3. Colin McPhillips (San Clemente); 4. Mark Stewart (Malibu).

MEN’S OPEN

Third round

(Top two advance)

HEAT 1--1. Luke Hitchings (Australia); 2. Beau Emerton (Australia; 3. Chris Ward (San Clemente); 4. Richard Lovett (Australia). HEAT 2--1. Victor Ribas (Brazil); 2. Barton Lynch (Australia); 3. Tom Curren (Santa Barbara); 4. Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii). HEAT 3--1. Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach); 2. Adam Replogle (Australia); 3. Conan Hayes (Hawaii); 4. Tim Curran (Oxnard). HEAT 4--1. Damien Hobgood (Florida); 2. Shea Lopez (San Clemente); 3. John Shimooka (Hawaii); 4. Christiano Spirro (Brazil). HEAT 5--1. Damien Hardman (Australia); 2. Vetea David (Brazil); 3. Ranan Rocha (Brazil); 4. Maicon Rosa (Brazil). HEAT 6--1. Nathan Webster (Australia); 2. Kalani Robb (Hawaii); 3. Marty Thomas (Long Beach); 4. Guilherme Herdy (Brazil). HEAT 7--1. Kelly Slater (Florida); 2. Ryan Simmons (Huntington Beach); 3. Rodrigo Dornelles (Brazil); 4. Danny Wills (Australia). HEAT 8--1. Mark Bannister (Australia); 2. Todd Holland (Florida); 3. Shane Stoneman (Los Osos); 4. Michael Rommelse (Australia).