Surf Contest: Biggest Air Wins $10K (Video)
Remember airshows?
The aerial-only surf contests, which usually ran adjacent to bigger, standard surf contests, had a heyday back in the late nineties and early aughts. They were loose, fun, and crowd-pleasing with aerial specialists like Christian Fletcher, Jason "Ratboy" Collins, Josh Kerr and others flaring up in the water, while hyping up the crowd on the beach.
But, as aerial surfing progressed outside of fringe territory, and into the mainstream criteria, airshows fell by the wayside; at least mostly, but not entirely.
Introducing, the 14th annual Still Frothy surf contest in Pismo Beach, California, featuring a Big Air Tow-At component with cash prizes.
And, of course, air surfing innovator Jacob “Zeke” Szekely was there (see video above).
“This is the type of surf contest the WSL should be running,” Zeke commented. “Cash prizes, tow-at big-air contest, sponsored by a beer company…people are gonna be partying.”
Unfortunately, Zeke didn’t stomp his superman air reverse, axing him from the $10k grand prize. But the young-gun, Cannon Carr from San Clemente, who Zeke brought up to SLO with him for the event, ended up snatching the top honors.
Bring airshows back?
For more on the event, here’s a recap from Still Frothy:
The only annual Tow-At event this side of the Mississippi takes place at the Still Frothy Festival.
As a result, some amazing talent showed up to blow up this year. We ran our trials the day before to establish the seeding, and were immediately impressed by the level of technical and huge airs being hucked. It also helps having skilled ski drivers, which we do in the amazing Adam Virs, along with Austin Neumann and Kilian Garland.
Along with the San Clemente contingent, esteemed air specialist, Jacob “Zeke” Szekely joined our local standouts of Austin Neumann, Kilian Garland, Sean Woods and Trent Popovich to produce the best Tow-At Air show we have ever seen. Special shout out to all of our amazing competitors. This was the first year that every competitor stuck at least 1 air during their 10 minute heat.
Results:
4th: Hagan Johnson @haganjohnson
3rd: Taj Lindblad @tajlindblad
2nd: Quinten Rubalcava @quinten_rubalcava
1st: Cannon Carr @cannoncarr1
And all I can say is it’s an Infectious Groove watching the freaks knowing These Freaks Are Here To Party.
***
Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.
Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.
