Huntington Beach Senior Surfing Competition, part of the
Southland Senior Olympics brings out surfer Wayne Gardner,
who used to surf Malibu. The video shows a competing surfer.
On Saturday, November
3rd, 2007 at 7AM, 15 gentleman between the ages of 50 and 71 competed
in four - 20 minute heats of surfing at Huntington Beach's 1st Annual
Southland Senior Olympics Surfing Championship, part of a 17-year Senior
Olympics competition program.
The waves were two to
three-feet high with fair conditions on an overcast morning. Surfers
were in good spirits and worked the waves as well as they could on the south
side of the Huntington Beach Pier. Open to men and women, there were
women watching from the sand, but none competing in the age category. Other
sporting events in this new competition that planners hope will become an
annual offering included team bingo, shuffleboard, tennis, horseshoes and
many more sports. Surfing was one of the most physically challenging
activities but watching the surfers compete, it was clear to see that these
guys are incredibly talented and seem to be in excellent condition. We bet
they could run circles around some of the younger surfers on the West Coast
today.
"This is great fun...this is what we get to do every day,” said
Mike Ester. Bob "The
Greek" Bolen, the originator of Greek Surfboards, fins and Huntington
Beach Realty was in true form. He pointed to his buddy, Mike, and
began chanting a tune the two sang, "Your momma says you're ugly
(see video).
Winners in the surfing championship included:
Ages 50 - 54
bronze Bob Crandall
silver Alan Attardo "I was rippin' out there," said the senior loan
consultant from Huntington Beach.
gold Rick Fignetti
Ages 55 - 59
bronze Marc Faircloth
silver Mike Ester
gold Tom Knight
60 -64
bronze Mike Pincetich
silver Bob Bolen
gold Mike McCormick
70 and up
gold Wayne Gardner
I'd like to personally
congratulate my friends who competed in the race and won medals. They are
Bob "The Greek" Bolen, Rick "Rockin Fig" Fignetti and Alan Attardo. Thank you so much to
Chris Cole, Dottie Hughes, Janeen Laudenback and Randy Pasqueria from the
City of Huntington Beach Community Services Department for putting this
event together! - Chris MacDonald |
