SLO Cal Open Surfing
Updated: Jan 31
The SLO Cal Open, a large surfing competition composed of 252 athletes, began this week.
"Right now, this event's proving itself to hang with bigger towns like Santa Cruz and Huntington," said Andy Kay, a representative for Surfing For Hope (a non-profit fighting cancer) to central California news station KSBY. "They both had solid waves, but I think we've actually had the biggest wave so far this year."
Pismo Beach native Austin Neumann is also competing, having recently come back from a professional competition in Barbados, only one of the highlights of his thirteen-year career.
"It is super cool to be from here and know the wave. It's cool to see like a bunch of people coming into town from all over the world,” said Neumann. “I lived literally like an eight-minute walk of the street, and I lived there for like ten years. I surfed literally every single day. I still do."
He expressed his enthusiasm at seeing his young fans attend the competition, and was hopeful that a new generation of surfers would take up the torch at Pismo Beach.
Arroyo Grande artist Raul Torres was also at the competition showcasing his sand art, which he creates on the beach of his hometown every Saturday.
The SLO Cal Open will run through Sunday.