Haleiwa HI (Nov. 24, 1995)...After two years on the Coca-Cola/ASP World Tour, Australia's Richard Lovett posted a major win today surfing into first place in the Wyland Galleries Hawaiian Pro presented by Planet Hollywood. The contest is the first in the Red Dog Triple Crown of Surfing.
"This is a very emotional time for me nght now, I can't even believe it myself, "said Lovett - 23, from Manly. "Hawaiian events are so tough, all the best surfers go to Hawai`i and they're all in the contests. When I first started touring, I thought about my heats, about how I was doing and how many points I had. That wasn't working. Now I've learned not to think about anything. I've just stopped thinking about everything and now I go out and have fun. It worked."
Lovett was out of the water for two and a half months with a bad back and returned to touring with a vengeance. Today, he earned $5000, 1500 points and an Animal Wristwatch. The biggest win--advancing into the Top 44.
"You can never write yourself off," Lovett said. "You've gotta have some confidence in yourself.
Second place went to Hawaii's Ross Williams - 22, who won $2500 and 1290 points.
Third and fourth were Australians Luke Egan - 26, $2000 and 1095 points and Munga Barry - 26, $1500 and 1005 points.
"I didn't even realize I was the only guy from Hawai`i when we first started the heat," said Williams, who started surfing Haleiwa when he was eight years old and was definitely on home turf "I think it's good luck being home, you feel more relaxed."
"It was a very long day with four heats and a free surf at Sunset Beach this morning," said Barry. "I'm stoked that I beat Kelly Slater twice in one contest."
Luke Egan observed that the waves were inconsistent in the finals. Regarding the new younger Australians, he said: "All the young guys have formed a little group. It's gonna be scary once that little group unites."
The finals for the Roxy Women's Hawaiian Pro are scheduled for Saturday November 25, surf permitting.
The holding period for the Moku Hawai`i World Cup of Surfing and the Chiemsee Women's Masters contests runs November 28 to December 7 at Sunset Beach.
On November 27 the contest telephone numbers will be changed as follows:
Hotline: 808-638-5024
For information on the status of the women's competition:
call the Lava Net
Press Trailer at 808-637-4771
Triple Crown Hot Line: 808-637-6376.
EMail address:
Carol Hogan
Check us out on the Internet at: http://holoholo.org/triplecrown
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