THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230276
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 31 lines
Nearly 400 amateur and professional surfers descend on the Oceanfront this morning to kick off the 34th annual East Coast Surfing Championships.
Competition begins at 7 a.m. today thrugh Sunday with early elimination heats in both divisions. Professional finals are slated for 11 a.m. Sunday.
Amateurs are governed by the Virginia District of the Eastern Surfing Association, while the nearly 100 pros compete under the Bud Surf Tour banner for the Association of Surfing Professionals.
John Logan is the ECSC pro men's defending champion. Lisa Schwarzstein will defend her women's title.
This year's pro stop - the sixth of eight stops nationwide - will award the highest purse of any East Coast event and both men's and women's pro divisions are World Qualifying Series events. The total professional purse will be $22,500.
``Our surfers compete against the cream of the crop, honing their skills and building their point totals,'' said Bud Tour director Ian Cairns, a world champion in 1975. ``We've already proven our system of qualifying surfers into the World Tour.''
While the introduction of professionals in 1992 helped legitimize the event in the surfing community, the ECSC has a strong foundation. The contest is the oldest continuous-running event in the country and second oldest in the world.
The ECSC also features competition in skimboarding and volleyball, and will this year add the East Coast's first Hawaiian outrigger canoe race. by CNB