"The O'Neill Coldwater Classic, stop No. 9 of 10 on the ASP WCT, kicked off competition on the opening day of the waiting period and saw several upsets unfold in shifting two-to-four foot waves at the iconic California pointbreak of Steamer Lane.
Nat Young (USA), 21, former O'Neill Coldwater Classic winner and 2012 Trials winner, was responsible for the upset of the day, relegating reigning 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 40, and ASP WCT Rookie Kolohe Andino(USA), 18, to Round 2 with his signature backhand attack at his local break.
Dusty Payne (HAW), 23, current ASP WCT No. 33, contributed to today's upsets, besting two-time ASP World ChampionMick Fanning (AUS), 31, and former Pipe Masters champion Kieren Perrow (AUS), 35, to advance directly through to Round 3.
Patrick Gudauskas (USA), 27, wasted little time in his Round 1 affair, striking first with an early score against current ASP WCT No. 4 John John Florence (HAW), 19, and Heitor Alves (BRA), 30. The talented natural-footer quickly backed up his ride and held on to the lead throughout the heat's entirety, despite the efforts of his opponents, to advance directly through to Round 3.
While several top seeds were relegated to Round 2, current ASP WCT frontrunner Joel Parkinson (AUS), 31, dominated his Round 1 affair from start to finish, amassing the day's highest heat-total. Parkinson, a former O'Neill Coldwater Classic winner (2000), looked at home at the righthand pointbreak and unloaded an array of seamless carves to notch a 9-point ride on the way to his 16.83 out of 20 heat total.
Gabriel Medina (BRA), 18, discovered a rare lefthander in his heat and took to the air, lofting a monster air-reverse to notch the day's highest single-wave score of 9.43 out of 10. Medina, who finished runner-up at the last ASP WCT event in Portugal, is admittedly becoming more comfortable in the Steamer Lane lineup and hopes to put together another banner result at the O'Neill Coldwater Classic.
