Surf - Slater & Beachley fejret ved ASP World Champions- kroningen!

Verdens bedste surfere havde skiftet boardshorts ud med det fine tøj, da de I søndags blev fejret ved den 25. kåring af ASP World Champions.

Kåringen fandt sted på Conrad Jupiter’s Casino, på Gold Coast I Australien.

Både nuværende og tidligere surfing superstars var til stede da den røde løber blev rullet ud.

Hawaiianske Senator Fred Hemmings, som (sammen med Randy Rarick) grundlagde “the International Professional Surfers (IPS) “ der I 1983 blev til ASP, deltog også ved eventen.

Hemmings udtaler: “Thirty years ago, Randy Rarick and I knew where we wanted to go, but we didn’t know how to get there. I have to tell you we’re so thrilled to let you know we’re there. We were surfers with dreams. We dreamed that our sport would be respected in the pantheon of athletics, dreamed that our sport would be healthy and vibrant, that our athletes would be respected. Layne Beachley and Kelly Slater, and all the surfers on tour, I want to tell you that you are our dreams.”

8 x ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) og 7x ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley (AUS) blev begge officielt kronet som “kongen” og “dronningen” af surfing, med 600 mennesker som publikum.

Surf-stjernen Kelly Slater udtaler: “Two of my very good friends, Sunny Garcia and Rob Machado, very narrowly lost world titles when I won them, and no matter how great it was to me at that time, it was so bittersweet. Contests are fun though, and that’s why we’re all here – this is what’s bringing us together. Without these competitions, we wouldn’t have these friends, we wouldn’t have these experiences, we wouldn’t have these wins and losses and be able to experience such highs and lows in life and see such broad pictures.”

Kelly Slater fyrer den af på Tahiti- ASP World Tour 2006

Beachley, der overtalte Kelly Slater til at fortsætte med at konkurrere, var også utrolig glad, men også ydmyg for at modtage endnu en verdensmester-titel, til trods for, at hun er en af de få kvinder I verden der opnår at vinde en VM-titel i sin sport hele 7 gange.

“I feel grateful and very honored to be able to call surfing my profession. I am overwhelmed with the fact that I was able to come back and win a seventh world title, and ultimately, I want to thank surfing for giving us the life that we all have and we all share. I’m just thankful for my job and I look forward to an incredibly competitive season this year.” Sagde Beachley

efter kroningen.

Lane Beachley under ASP Women´s World Tour 2006

Runner-up-præmier blev givet til Andy Irons (HAW) og Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS).

Der blev desuden uddelt præmie til ASP Men’s World Junior Champion Jordy Smith (ZAF), ASP Women’s World Junior Champion Nicola Atherton (AUS), ASP Women’s World Tour Rookie of the Year Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) og Foster’s ASP World Tour Rookie of the Year Bobby Martinez (USA).

Vinderne af ASP World Tour 2006:

• Foster’s ASP World Tour Champion – Kelly Slater (USA)

• Foster’s ASP World Tour Runner Up – Andy Irons (HAW)

• ASP Women’s World Tour Champion – Layne Beachley (AUS)

• ASP Women’s World Tour Runner-Up – Melanie Redman Carr (AUS)

• ASP Men’s World Junior Champion – Jordy Smith (ZAF)

• ASP Women’s World Junior Champion – Nicola Atherton (AUS)

• Foster’s ASP World Tour Rookie of the Year – Bobby Martinez (USA)

• ASP Women’s World Tour Rookie of the Year – Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)

• ASP World Tour Most Improved Surfer – Tim Reyes (USA)
• ASP Women’s World Tour Most Improved Surfer – Rebecca Woods (AUS)

• ASP Men’s World Longboard Champion – Josh Constable (AUS)

• ASP Women’s World Longboard Champion – Schuyler McFerran (USA)

• ASP World Qualifying Series #1 Ranked Man – Jeremy Flores (FRA)

• ASP World Qualifying Series #1 Ranked Woman – Jessi Miley-D