OP PRO SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS : She Takes Twin’s Advice, Strikes Early

San Clemente’s Jolene Smith heeded the advice of her twin sister, Jorja, before paddling out for her first-round heat of the Op Pro surfing championships near the Huntington Beach Pier.

“She told me to get four good waves in the beginning and do something with them,” Jolene Smith said. “I didn’t want to get eliminated.”

Jolene learned from her sister’s mistake earlier in the competition.

Jorja, the 1988 Op champion, was eliminated in the first heat of the day, finishing third behind Kylie Webb and Tricia Gill of Newport Beach.

But Jolene scored the top five waves to easily win her first-round heat over Prue Jeffries of Rose Bay, Australia, and Randi Borrock.

“The conditions are a lot better now (9 a.m.) than when my sister surfed (6:20 a.m.),” Jolene said. “The wind stopped blowing and it’s much better.

“All Jorja needed was one more good wave. The lead kept going back and forth between the top three in her heat.”

The Smith sisters quit traveling full time on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals tour two years ago when their sponsors dropped them. But they continue to compete annually at the Op, which they consider their hometown event.

“I miss certain parts of the tour,” Jolene said. “I miss going back to Australia for contests and traveling with my friends.

“But I don’t miss surfing competitively all the time, and the pressures that come with it. But I do miss getting a paycheck to surf, though.”

Instead, Jolene works as a teacher’s aide with special education students at Marco Forester Junior High in San Juan Capistrano. This fall, she will begin studying for her teaching credential at Cal State Fullerton.

“I took sign-language classes at Saddleback College,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to work with hearing-impaired children.

“It requires a lot of patience, but I’m pretty easygoing. Every now and then, the teachers tell me I have to yell more.”

The school recently had a day at the beach. Smith, 25, brought a longboard and took her students surfing.

“They loved it,” she said.

Almost as much as their teacher.

Jorja Smith wasn’t the only Orange County surfer upset in Monday’s first round.

Alisa Schwarzstein of Laguna Beach, who finished fifth overall last year, went home early after finishing third in her heat.

Nea Post of Huntington Beach, surfing in her second Op, was second in her heat. But Post advanced to Thursday’s repercharge heat, in which second-place finishers get a chance to qualify for the next round.

In the Op Junior amateur division, Cardiff’s Rob Machado and Huntington Beach’s Jeff Deffenbaugh each won four heats to advance to Sunday’s semifinals. Joining them in the semifinals will be Cade Oyadomari of Kancohe, Hawaii, and Shawn Sutton of Waipahu, Hawaii.

Deffenbaugh, 18, finished third in last year’s Op Junior. Machado, 17, was runner-up to Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., in the 1989 Op Junior.

“Rob was definitely the man of the day,” Deffenbaugh said. “He was ripping. He was consistently scoring in the high--six range. He’ll be the hardest one to beat.”

Deffenbaugh and Oyadomari will be in one semifinal, and Deffenbaugh will meet Sutton in the other.

Add juniors: Seal Beach’s Ryan Simmons surfed well, winning his first heat and reaching the fourth round before losing to Sutton and Deffenbaugh.

Men’s seedings: Australian surfers dominated the top five seeded spots in the men’s competition, which begins at 7 a.m. today.

Barton Lynch of Manly, Australia, the 1987 Op champion, is seeded No. 1. Lynch is followed by Damien Hardman of Narrabeen, Rob Bain of Manly, Gary Elkerton of Mooloolaba and Dave Macaulay of Cowaramup.

The highest-seeded Americans are Newport Beach’s Richie Collins (sixth), Encinitas native and Huntington Beach High graduate Brad Gerlach (seventh) and three-time Op champion and defending world champion Tom Curren of Santa Barbara (eighth).

The top-seeded surfers aren’t scheduled to compete until Wednesday morning.

Surf’s down: The surf forecast for Huntington Beach is bleak for the next few days, said Sean Collins, a forecaster with Surf Line.

Collins said Monday’s two-foot wave conditions should continue today and Wednesday, with several lulls between sets. But he added that a storm off Antarctica could create five-foot waves as early as Thursday afternoon, and into the weekend.

Surfing Notes

Competition resumes at 7 a.m. today with 20 first-round heats in the men’s trials. Second-round heats will start at 1:40 p.m. . . . ESPN will televise the Op finals on Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 7 at 7 a.m.

Scheduled to surf in the first round: Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla.; San Clemente’s Matt Archbold, Jim Hogan and Christian Fletcher; Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel; brothers Joe, Terence and Brian McNulty of Capistrano Beach, and Huntington Beach’s Bud Llamas, Noah Budroe, John Parmenter and Kirk Tice.

Results

Women

First round

(Winners advance to second round)

Heat 1--1. Kylie Webb, 2. Tricia Gill (Newport Beach), 3. Jorja Smith (San Clemente), 4. Angela Capolupo (Santa Cruz); Heat 2--1. Julie Whitegon (Laguna Niguel), 2. Andrea Lopes (Rio de Janiero), 3. Jodi Holmes (Manly, Australia); Heat 3--1. Janel Anello (San Diego), 2. Karen Gallagher (Sunset Beach, Hawaii), 3. Kim Briones (Waipahu, Hawaii); Heat 4--1. Connie Nixon-Fookes (Maroochydore, Australia), 2. Cherie Gross, 3. Lisa Carulli (San Diego), 4. Patricia Lopes (Portugal).

Heat 5--1. Janice Aragon (Huntington Beach), 2. Anne Hoarau, 3. Alisa Schwarzstein (Laguna Beach), 4. Kim McKenzie (Haleiwa, Hawaii); Heat 6--1. Rochelle Gordines (Koloa Kauai, Hawaii), 2. Nea Post (Huntington Beach), 3. Andrea Johnson (Orlando, Fla.); Heat 7--1. Jolene Smith (San Clemente), 2. Prue Jeffries (Rose Bay, Australia), 3. Randi Borrock; Heat 8--1. Kathy Newman (Bonny Hills, Australia), 2. Layne Beachley (Sydney, Australia), 3. Linda Davoli (Brigantine, N.J.).

Juniors

First Round

(Top two advanced to next round)

Heat 1--1. Don Solomon (Thousand Oaks), 2. Troy Eckert (Newport Beach), 3. Kalani Robb (Haleiwa, Hawaii), 4. Jamie George (Goleta); Heat 2--1. Rob Machado (Cardiff), 2. Chris Drummy (San Juan Capistrano), 3. Sean Hayes (Ventura), 4. Brian Pacheco (Waianae, Hawaii); Heat 3--1. Peter Mendia (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 2. Shawn Sutton (Waipahu, Hawaii), 3. Kevin Calhoun (Santa Ana), 4. Alex Little (Huntington Beach); Heat 4--1. Chad Navarro (San Clemente), 2. Bob Baum (Huntington Beach), 3. Cody Graham (Koala, Hawaii), 4. Carlos Cabrero (Puerto Nuevo, Hawaii); Heat 5--1. Jeff Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach), 2. Cade Oyadomari (Kancoche, Hawaii), 3. Todd Morcom (Indialantic, Fla.), 4. Pete Rocky (Carpinteria); Heat 6--1.Erik Barton (Honolulu), 2. Julian Sekon (Aptos), 3. Boyce Hundley (Stuart, Fla.), 4. Aaron Ernst (Santa Barbara).

Heat 7--1. Doug Delancy (Escondido), 2. Jason Gantz (Makakilo, Hawaii), 3. Shea Lopez (Indian Rocks, Fla.), 4. C.T. Taylor (Satellite Beach, Fla.); Heat 8--1. Ryan Simmons (Seal Beach), 2. Kent Doonan (La Canada), 3. Chad Hopkins (Berlin, Md.), 4. Isaac Kaneshiro (Ewa Beach, Hawaii); Heat 9--1. Banning Capps (Carlsbad), 2. Tim Buechler (Titusville, Fla.), 3. Cory Pierce (Agoura), 4. Noah Johnson (Westminster); Heat 10--1. Pat Maus (Carlsbad), 2. Geoff Moysa (San Juan Capistrano), 3. Josh Vesque (San Clemente), 4. Chris Todd (Virginia Beach, Va.); Heat 11--1. Chris Strother (Carlsbad), 2. Greg Browning (Manhattan Beach), 3. Barry Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach), 4. Mike Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.); Heat 12--1. Bill Ferguson (Malibu), 2. Drew Todd (Virginia Beach, Va.), 3. Pablo Diaz (Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico), 4. Aaron Fredette (Oxnard).

Round 2

(Top two advanced)

Heat 1--1. Machado, 2. Sutton, 3. Soloman, 4. Baum; Heat 2--1. Eckert, 2. Drummy, 3. Mendia, 4. Navarro; Heat 3--1. J. Deffenbaugh, 2. Doonan, 3. Gantz, 4. Barton; Heat 4--1. Oyadornari, 2. Simmons, 3. Delancy, 4. Sekon; Heat 5--1. Capps, 2. Maus, 3. Browning, 4. Todd; Heat 6--1. Strother, 2. Moyse, 3. Ferguson, 4. Buechler.

Round 3

(Top two advanced)

Heat 1--1. Machado, 2. Simmons, 3. Doonan, 4. Eckert; Heat 2--1. Drummy, 2. Sutton, 3. Strother, 4. Capps; Heat 3--1. J. Deffenbaugh, 2. Oyadomari, 3. Maus, 4. Moysa.

Round 4

(Top two advance to Sunday’s semifinals)

Heat 1--1. Machado, 2. Oyadomari, 3. Drummy; Heat 2--1. Deffenbaugh, 2. Sutton, 3. Simmons.