Seignosse, 20.05.2018 – The first day of the contest has started – The longboarders have to wait until tomorrow, while the Open has already started / presented by firefly
Around 1,250 students gathered at the Belambras facility in Seignosse on Saturday to choose Germany’s best surfing students. At 10 a.m. sharp, the crowd was so big that the line at reception stretched about 50 meters to the gate outside. After all the students had found their way to their bungalows, the heat sheets and competition information were published at the Riders Night in the evening.
The adh open surfing contest 2018 officially started on Sunday. A total of 187 students have registered who want to prove their surfing talent in Seignosse. 72 of 133 participants in the Open Men have already started in 12 heats on the north podium. All 37 students in the Open Women class have already jumped into the water. The longboarders will have to be a little more patient; the first heat is planned for Monday.
Waves around 1.5m high and a gentle offshore wind shortly after high tide presented a particular challenge, especially for beginners. However, conditions improved over the day, so that the numerous spectators were able to watch some bottom turns at lunchtime. Tom Winkels (IST School of Management) achieved both the best wave score and the best heat result of the day for the Open Men with 5.97 and 10.97 respectively, followed by Paul Heubel (University of Münster) with 5.71 and 9.5 respectively. The women also performed in 12 heats with similarly high scores. Valeska Schneider (TU Munich) was able to move into round two with 11 total points. Close behind with 10.5 points each were Emilia Schreiber (University of Konstanz) and Katharina Rybkina (TU Munich).
This year, too, several starters in the Open Men were able to secure a seeded place in round three. These include Julius Wenzel (Uni Kiel) and Paul Baudach (TU Chemnitz), who achieved third and fifth place with remarkable performances in the previous adh open surfing competitions. Together with eight others, the students will therefore enter the competition later, as they were able to stand out both in the adh open surfing competitions 2017 and in national championships.
Immediately after the contest, the students were offered another item on the program with a surf flea market. In the evening, the local live band BLUEFUNKT will get the evening in the mood before the competition continues on Monday morning. The forecast promises even better conditions here, which are reflected in waves around 1m high and light cross-shore wind.
Press release: Laura Barton (University of Cologne)
More information: https://www.facebook.com/adh.open.surfen
Host: Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with Wavetours
Wavetours contact: David Straßburger & Jens Unger
Organizer: General German University Sports Association
Web: www.adh.de
Sports representative for surfing: Christoph Edeler