One year ago, Kalani Vierra and Blanche Yoshida did not know each other and were not involved in the sport of tandem surfing.

Today, they will try to win the World Title of Tandem Surfing contest at Kuhio Beach, Waikiki.

The quarterfinals and semifinals of the contest were completed yesterday in 1- to 3-foot waves, and Vierra and Yoshida were one of the four tandems to advance to the final.

The other three finalists are Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada, Caleb Wilborn/Wendy Lynn, and Chuck Inman/Tiffany Rabacal.

Vierra and Yoshida — who both reside on Kaua'i — are the unlikely finalists when considering their background.

Vierra, 41, is a lifeguard and avid surfer, but he never tried tandem surfing until nine months ago. He started because Yoshida needed a partner.

"She went around Kaua'i asking everybody, and she found me," Vierra said. "It's an honor for me to make her happy and get her back into the tandem circuit again."

Yoshida was a world champion tandem surfer in the 1960s and '70s, but gave up the sport to devote more time to her family and job as a school teacher.

"Over 30 years I took off and raised my family and my career," she said.

She got motivated to try the sport again last year when the World Title contest came to Waikiki.

"It's more challenging now because I'm not as limber as I used to be," said Yoshida, 54. "We do more lifts per wave than we did back then, but we did some pretty difficult lifts back then as well."

In the sport of tandem surfing, the male surfs on a large board and then lifts the female into various acrobatic and artistic poses while riding the waves.

Over the past nine months, Vierra and Yoshida have become avid tandem surfing competitors. They travel around the world for events, and are the No. 1-ranked tandem for 2007.

But winning today's final is not going to be easy.

Keaulana and Terada are the defending World Title champions, and they have been posting the highest scores of the early rounds.

"Not every contest is the same — you can't assume or expect the contest to be the same as last year," Keaulana said. "For me and Kathy, we have to up our game."

Keaulana said they may even attempt high-scoring maneuvers during today's final that they have not yet used in this contest.

"The highest score you can get on a maneuver is the star — it's the highest one yet and that's not in our repertoire right now," he said. "So we're going to practice that ... and put that in our sequence too. It's kind of like playing chess at a high level."

ROXY JAM WOMEN'S EVENT REACHES FINALS

The quarterfinals and semifinals for the Roxy Jam Honolulu women's longboard surfing contest also were run yesterday at Kuhio Beach.

California surfers Julie Whitegon and Lindsay Steinriede, and Honolulu surfers Crystal Dzigas and Kelia Moniz qualified for today's final.

Moniz, 14, is still an amateur surfer and one of the youngest competitors in the field.

The winner of today's final will receive $2,000. It is the first time in Hawai'i that a longboard contest for women is being sanctioned by the Association of Surfing Professionals.

California's Jennifer Smith was eliminated in the quarterfinals. She won the 2007 world championship for women's longboard surfing last month at France.

Finals for the C4 Waterman/Honolua Surf Co. Stand-up Paddle Invitational and the Duke's Legends Surf Classic will also be run today at Kuhio Beach.

There will also be a beach volleyball tournament, a surf polo tournament, a paddleboard race and an ocean swim today at Waikiki.

All the events are part of the Duke's OceanFest, which is held in honor of Duke Kahanamoku.

HAWAI'I SURFERS ELIMINATED IN BRAZIL

Wai'anae's Melanie Bartels was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Billabong Girls Pro women's contest yesterday at Praia Da Tiririca, Brazil.

Fellow Hawai'i surfers Megan Abubo and Rochelle Ballard were eliminated in the earlier rounds.

The contest is the third of seven stops on the women's 2007 World Championship Tour.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.