Epic Lower Trestles to host world surfing championships

SAN DIEGO (AP) — From Tokyo to Lower Trestles, surfing is still riding its biggest wave.

Less than two months after ir sport’s Olympic debut, top five women and men have gared at Lower Trestles, one of Sourn California’s epic breaks, for World Surf League’s new one-day, winner-take-all championship.

For first time, world titles will be decided on waves inste of by season points standings. re will also be equal prize money, with each champion earning $200,000 out of identical $470,000 purses.

competition window for Rip Curl WSL Finals opened Thursday and runs through Sept. 17. Organizers will look for optimum forecast to decide which day contest will be held. It could be as early as Sunday.

Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion Carissa Moore of Honolulu is seeded No. 1 in women’s bracket, meaning she’s guaranteed a spot in final match. Men’s gold medalist and reigning world champion Italo Ferreira of Brazil is No. 2 on men’s side behind countryman Gabriel Medina, who has a huge points le but must win title match to clinch his third world championship.

Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore will be going for a record eighth women’s world title and is seeded No. 4, so she’ll need to win three matches to earn a showdown with Moore.

“re’s a lot on line because sometimes world titles have been determined on beach, but I’ll actually be in water this time surfing for it,” said Moore, a four-time world champion. “It’ll be very exciting.”

For this contest, location will be as big of a star as surfers mselves.

Surfers revere Lower Trestles for its consistent waves as well as its setting.

Lower Trestles is one of several surf breaks between San Onofre State Beach in norrn San Diego County and San Clemente Beach in sourn Orange County. Surfers named it deces ago after Trestles Bridge that spanned San Mateo Creek.

Although wood railro trestle has mostly been replaced by reinforced steel and concrete, single train track is still in play — although visitors are supposed to go under bridge to get to beach, not on a path that crosses track.

“It’s unique. It’s like a military area so you have to like go down and run across train tracks and get to beach,” Gilmore said. ”It’s quite venture to be able to get down to beach but once you’re re you’re greeted with a perfect A-frame, a left- and a right-hander, and it’s close to shore so it’s great for fans to come down and see all best surfers really close.”

Gilmore has won a tour event and gotten a perfect 10 at Lower Trestles. She is tied with fellow Australian Layne Beachley, who won seven world titles between 1998-2006.

“It’s one of most perfect waves in California, and essentially world,” Gilmore said. “It’s so rippable. It’s such a great arena for competitive surfing. If we have a great forecast n I can’t think of a better way to finish year.”

Moore loves Lower Trestles, too.

“This place holds a special place in my heart for sure,” she said. “It’s just a really fun wave. It’s consistent. It’s a very high-performance wave, meaning it allows for surfer to be very playful and take some risks. It has a nice pace to it so surfer that’s riding it can really open up and display ir kind of surfing.

“It’s just been a part of surfing history for so long. It seems like a very fitting venue for this historic event,” Moore said.

Gilmore wasn’t a big fan of new format at first. “Now that I’m coming in at fourth place and I actually have a shot at title, which in any or year I wouldn’t be in this position, I’m really liking it,” she said.

“I can imagine winning this event, having beaten all girls in top five, and just feeling like it was a huge achievement,” she said. “Obviously toughest event of year to win and to be able to win world title, it would be an achievement you’d never forget, for sure.”

full women’s field is Moore, Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil, Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia, Gilmore and Johanne Defay of France.

For men, it’s Medina, Ferreira, Filipe Toledo of Brazil, Conner Coffin of Santa Barbara and Morgan Cibilic of Australia.

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Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson