Big waves a no-show at state surfing competition

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

High surf advisory?

Kekoa Bacalso, 16, of Mililani showed his style yesterday at the Hawai'i Amateur Surfing Association competition despite smaller-than-expected waves at Kewalo Basin. Bernie Baker • Special to The Advertiser

Wave heights ranged from 2 to 5 feet at Kewalo Basin. While such heights are considered better than average for an amateur contest, it was far from the predicted 10-footers forecasted by the National Weather Service.

"I was all excited (Friday) night," said Kekoa Bacalso, a 16-year-old junior at Mililani High who competed in the junior men's division. "I got all my North Shore (big-wave) boards waxed up and ready to go. And then I came down here and it was 2 feet ... pretty disappointing."

Kristen Quizon, a Wai'anae High senior who competed in the girls division, added: "It was fun, but we were all hoping it would be bigger. It's like all that hype for nothing."

Still, HASA officials took precautions.

In anticipation of the big waves, contest director Wendell Aoki pushed most of the youth divisions to next week. Yesterday, only the experienced youth competitors and adults were allowed to surf.

As with all contests in the HASA series, a certified lifeguard was on site, and a "water patrol" kept close watch on the competitors.

"It's not as big as we expected, but it's still decent size," Aoki said. "So we decided to play it safe and have the younger kids surf next week."

Some of those "younger kids" managed to sneak in anyway.

The Hunter sisters — Lani, 13, and Ashley, 10 — competed in the girls division, which is open to females ages 17 and younger. Their father, Steve Hunter, made the decision to let them surf yesterday morning.

"I was absolutely worried (Friday) night; I was ready to pull them out of the meet if it was too big," he said. "But they've actually surfed waves much bigger than this, so I felt comfortable letting them go."

As Lani put it: "We knew we could handle it."

Lance Gruver, an eighth-grader at Kahuku Intermediate, arrived yesterday at Kewalo Basin unaware that his boys division (for ages 13 and 14) was postponed. Rather than trek all the way back to the North Shore, he competed in the junior men's division (ages 15-17).

"I just wanted to surf because I heard the waves were going to be good," said Gruver, 14. "For a contest, this is pretty good size (waves), but I've seen it way bigger."

Some of the experienced competitors have also seen it smaller, so from that perspective, yesterday's waves were a treat.

"It's not dangerous at all," said Nathan Carroll, who won the junior men's division. "Maybe it would be tough for the little kids, but for us, this was fun stuff."

Dustin Cuizon, who placed second to Carroll, added: "I've surfed this place as small as it can be, so I was happy to see it this big."

What's more, yesterday's contest offered competitors a rare opportunity to surf uncrowded waves on a weekend.

"I don't care how big it is, it's still fun if you get to surf Kewalos with only five other guys out there," said Kepa Kruse, who won the men's bodyboarding division. "If not, there would be a hundred guys out here today."