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NEW PLACES, FRESH FACES
ASP Women's Tour heads to Spain with youngsters leading the way
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By:
Darlene Conolly
All Photos: ASP/Covered Images/Kirstin Scholtz
September 3, 2007
THE STAGE:
Rip Curl Girls Pro, Santander, Liencres, Spain, September 4-9, 2007
The ASP Women's World Tour battle resumes in the Northern Hemisphere this week, where ASP World Champions will be looking to set the record straight during Stop Number 4 of 7, the Rip Curl Girls Festival in Santander, Spain. THEN: This will be the first time the Women's World Tour hits Spain. Normally, the girls would be competing in Hossegor, where Chelsea Hedges had her only win in 2006. But Rip Curl, the event's prime sponsor, has an entire week-long festival in the works for Spain. |
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So while the World Tour event is the anchor affair of the nine-day Rip Curl Girls Festival, it also includes a Pro Junior girls event, surf clinics, yoga, music concerts and more. The excellent beachbreaks of Liencres as well as it's proximity to the beautiful city of Santander, have provided the ideal locale for an event of this nature. NOW: Layne Beachley has felt the sting from the insurgence of 'new guard' surfers on tour this year, including wildcard Carissa Moore, Stephanie Gilmore and Silvana Lima -- all of whom have kept surfing's most prolific female star at bay. "There was a lot of attention placed on the new faces last year and many of them crumbled," said the current World Champ. "Well this year I think they've found their feet! Chelsea's had a World Title so she's hungry for another one and Stephanie's come through and performed under the pressure." "The first half of the year hasn't gone the way I'd wanted it too. Now I am in a position of pressure which I tend to relish, so I am looking forward to the waves breaking here in Spain and re-cementing my position as a world title contender."
--Layne Beachley
At World No. 7, Layne is in no eminent danger of meeting any of the young guns too early on at this event. Chelsea Hedges however, will have to contend with the potential potency of wildcard Alana Blanchard of Kauai who won the Rip Curl Pro Junior Girls division on Sunday. BY THE NUMBERS: Chelsea, who shared the ASP ratings lead with Stephanie Gilmore for most of 2007, has suffered a number of setbacks over the past week, including losing her World No. 1 spot to Steph in Brazil. "I was pretty disappointed and frustrated in Brazil especially since I felt like I was surfing really well," Chelsea said. "Luckily we still have four events left and a lot can happen." When Chels paddles out for her first heat against Jacqueline Silva and wildcard Alana Blanchard during Round One at the Rip Curl Girls Festival, it will be her first surf in over a week. The goofyfooter received five stitches to the left side of her nose from a free surfing injury which, while keeping her out of the water, has increasingly fueled her need to get back in it. "I'm not really fussed," said Chelsea. "I've kept up my training and if anything, it has just made me hungrier to get back to it." THE WORD: "If you look at the ratings it is pretty close between all the girls and it makes it really exciting. I've just got to stay motivated and I'm looking forward to trying to get that World No. 1 spot back in Spain." --Chelsea Hedges "The first half of the year hasn't gone the way I'd wanted it too. Now I am in a position of pressure which I tend to relish, so I am looking forward to the waves breaking here in Spain and re-cementing my position as a world title contender." --Layne Beachley "I am really excited. I have always wanted to surf on the World Tour, but I didn't really expect that I would get the chance so soon. Surfing against girls like Steph and Layne is going to be a great experience for me and I'm going to learn a lot from it." --Alana Blanchard, Rip Curl Pro Spain wildcard recipient WOMENS HOME PAGE WOMENS SURFNEWS ARCHIVE |
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