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World’s Best Surfers Prepare for ASP Season-Opening Quiksilver
Pro Gold Coast
GOLD COAST, Queensland/Australia
(Wednesday, February 16, 2011) –The world’s best surfers
have converged on Australia’s Gold Coast for the opening event
of the 2011 ASP World Title season, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
presented by Land Rover, which will take place from February 26 through
March 9, 2011 at the world-renowned breaks of southern Queensland.
Utilizing the high-performance pointbreak of Snapper Rocks as the
primary venue, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast has the ability to go
mobile to several nearby world-class waves, offering the ideal forum
for the ASP Top 34 to open up their respective 2011 ASP World Title
campaigns.
Jordy Smith (ZAF), 23, 2010 ASP World Runner-Up, is coming
off an extended stay in his native South Africa where he has been
recharging for the upcoming season, testing out new equipment and
becoming mentally and physically prepared for taking on the world’s
best.
“I really enjoyed spending Christmas and New Year at home,”
Smith said. “It's been eight years since I last spent
the holidays in South Africa. So I made the best of it down in Cape
Town with my mates and Blake, my filmer from the USA, and also spent
time with my family in Durban.”
A lighter Jordy Smith keen to turn the dial up at Snapper this
year
“I have being testing
a bunch of boards, just feeling them out regarding different thicknesses,
as I have lost eight kilograms this summer working out, surfing and
training with my friends.” Smith said. “I have put
a lot of time in spinning, jogging, core work and just eating right.
Cape Town offers so many different surf breaks at this time of the
year, so I have been spending time surfing them up and down the coast
and capturing great footage for my new movie.”
Finishing Runner-Up at the 2010 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, coupled
with his incredible run amongst the world’s elite last season,
Smith has firmly established himself as a major contender at the opening
event of the season.
“The first thing that comes to mind regarding Snapper is that
it’s one of the best rip, tear and slash waves around,”
Smith said. “This wave offers so many ways that one can surf
it. In the past three years, I have seen so many different version's
of surfing, all surfers taking a different approach to Snapper. I
feel one has to surf it tight in the pocket and look for the tube.
As the wave draws off and runs down the sand bar, it offers a big
range of huge maneuvers to be had. There are so many talented surfers,
wildcards and new guys from the World Rankings who will be all showcasing
themselves in this event. All and sundry will want to come away with
a win, for sure.”
Taj Burrow
(AUS), 32, 2010 ASP World No. 4 and perennial ASP World Title threat,
has moved from strength-to-strength in the off season, scoring excellent
surf in a variety of locales.
“I've had such a good start to 2011,” Burrow said.
“I've started training earlier and harder than any other year
and I've also scored the best waves of my life! A trip to P-Pass and
a freak cyclone swell in Western Australia have me grinning from ear
to ear! Can't wait to jump in the water at Snapper. I'm so excited
about surfing right now!”
Defending Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast winner, Burrow’s affinity
with the event venue is world-renowned and the electric natural-footer
will look to repeat last year’s early season magic.
“I want to win contests
for sure,” Burrow said. “I want to surf fast and
loose and do a lot more airs in my heats. Snapper is amazing, so happy
to have taken down the event last year. It's such a high performance
wave. I love it when the sand is packed in there and the bank is groomed
for getting piped and doing wild turns!”
Jeremy Flores (FRA), 22, closed out the 2010 season in sensation
fashion, claiming the Billabong Pipeline Masters on the North Shore
of Oahu. The young Frenchman opted to stay and train in Hawaii during
the off season to better prepare for the year ahead.
“I stayed in Hawaii until February and the waves were incredible,”
Flores said. “We got some crazy sessions and I was lucky
to have a house to train with all the boys there too. “I really
enjoy being there and surfing heavy waves, and the life style really
reminded me of where I'm from. I wanted to cry when I had to leave!”
The ASP Top
34, comprised of the world’s best surfers, are breaking boundaries
daily in terms of high-performance surfing. No one knows this more
than Flores, who acknowledges the need to enhance his own repertoire
in order to stay current amongst the world’s best.
“I'm just concentrating
on still improving my surfing and training a lot,” Flores said.
“I feel more confident surfing when the waves are perfect for
sure now, but I have to keep working on some new moves and big lines
and find a good quiver. I think it's all about having magic boards.”
Despite his young age, Flores has extensive experience in and
around the Gold Coast, having travelled here annually for the past
several years. His reverence for the region, coupled with his newfound
confidence amongst the world’s elite make him a man to watch
in the 2011 ASP World Title season.
“Snapper is the funnest
wave,” Flores said. “I have been surfing there since
I was so young. You can really do big turns on it, big carves and
when the banks are good you can get perfect long barrels. Hopefully
Kirra is on and the comp moves there. I remember back in the day watching
the World Title events there and it looked incredible, barrel after
barrel. The level is so high today on tour. They are all amazing surfers
that I look up to. I'm just going to enjoy watching all the heats.
It's going to be exciting for sure
SPECIAL
THANKS ASPWORLDTOUR.COM
