Aussies Sweep Cold Water Classic at Waddell Creek
Samantha Cornish Comes Out On Top, Requalifies for WCT Santa Cruz, Calif. (Oct. 25, 2004) -- Samantha Cornish is now the only person to ever win the Cold Water Classic without surfing a single wave at Steamer Lane. The talented Aussie picked up the prestigious title and 1500 crucial WQS points to finish fifth on the tour and earn an invite to next year's WCT. "This week I was really determined to do well and requalify for the 'CT. I'm so happy right now," she said afterward. It was a happy ending (for the girls anyway), to what had been a frustrating and difficult week that saw everything from tent-flipping winds to a maddening flat spell. The Lane let everyone down once again Sunday morning, leaving organizers with no choice but to send 64 disappointed men home. Because it was the final event of their season, the ladies took priority and headed north to Waddell Creek where they hoped to find enough surf to decide a winner. It was the first time in history that any part of the Cold Water Classic has been cancelled. Morning conditions at Waddell were decent with consistent semi-glassy beach break rolling in at about 2'-3' with an occasionally bigger set. The ladies worked through successive heats until the quarterfinals were set. Eventual winner Samantha Cornish wasn't too upset about the move. "I actually liked the change of venue. It made all the surfers really spread out and we weren't all hassling on the one peak. I surfed Steamer Lane earlier this week in smaller conditions and it was really tough freesurfing out there with all of the guys. A few of the girls actually said to me, "it's kind of a real hassle-fest out here," so I'm really glad we moved to the beach because it broke us all up and made it more of a surfing contest than a hassling contest." Claire Bevilacqua wasn't too crushed when a lack of good waves eliminated her from the quarterfinals. Like a lot of girls at the WQS season finale, she was looking at the bigger picture. Her Cold Water effort was enough for sixth place in the WQS rankings and a place on next year's WCT. Another woman hoping for an invite to the world tour was Serena Brooke, who avoided quarterfinal elimination by just 3 one-hundredths of a point against Holly Beck in the day's closest heat. Serena's campaign ended in the semi-finals however, forcing her to settle for a year-end ranking of eighth. Only the top six women qualify for the WCT. As the quarterfinals came to an end, whitecaps appeared on the horizon, signaling the arrival of those dreaded afternoon winds. Suddenly, kite surfers were setting up on the beach and spectators dashed for sweatshirts. Everyone except for Brazil's Silvana Lima, who charged into her semifinal heat wearing just a spring suit. The refreshing combination of chilly water and air seemed to somehow ignite Silvana, who turned in one of the days standout performances. Australians made up 6 of the remaining 8 surfers in the semifinals, leaving Melanie Bartels as the only American. Although she surfed well early on, last year's champ seemed frustrated with the conditions and herself, as she was eliminated by the performances of Amee Donohoe and Silvana Lima. Although unable to capture another Cold Water title, Melanie still did well enough to enjoy a third place finish overall on the women's WQS. Even as the finals were set to begin, there was yet another meeting to decide where they would be held. Reports of a few small waves starting to show at The Lane had many thinking it would make sense to return to Santa Cruz. Ultimately, it was left up to the four female finalists to decide. The verdict was that the girls wanted to finish what they started on the beach at Waddell Creek despite worsening conditions. "There were really tough conditions toward the afternoon. I think it was a matter of just finding the waves with face and waves that ran down the sand bank because there were a lot of close-outs out there. A few people watching the heat said to me, 'you're really lucky, you got all the waves,'" Cornish admitted about her finals performance. Rebecca Woods worked one of the longest waves of the day (an 8.5) to put herself in clear contention for the title (Rebecca also scored the day's best wave, a 9.0 in the semifinal). In fact, each woman was within striking distance with only five minutes left in the contest when the ocean just shut down like it had so many times over the past few days allowing Cornish, who had surfed consistently all afternoon, to hold on for the win.-- Rob Campbell FINAL RESULTS
2004 Cold Water Classic
WQS Women's Final Standings |