ON THE BEACH / MIKE REILLEY : Cast of Characters Deserves Awards

You can’t take this surfing stuff too seriously. . . .

Sure, the five U.S. surfers who won the Op Pro surfing championships Sunday at the Huntington Beach Pier were showered with awards. They each got a medal, shared a trophy and earned $4,000 for the victory.

But surfing is an individual sport. So why not hand out some individual awards?

Best dramatic role: Kelly Slater, and not just for playing a surfer in upcoming “Baywatch” episodes. His version of “Should I Stay or Should I Go” at the Op was a bigger hit than The Clash’s.

Slater threatened to walk out on the last day of the team competition to catch a flight to Fiji for a photo shoot. His decision drew the ire of his teammates and contest director Joe Adams.

Slater later decided to stay, saying, “I did if for the team; the money wasn’t a factor.”

Guttiest performance: Australia’s Pam Burridge, who competed despite a swollen right knee. Contest officials allowed a runner to carry her board to her during the tag-team competition.

Gutless performance: Europe-Africa’s Martin Potter, who skipped the competition and never notified his teammates or contest officials. One source said Potter never intended to come to the contest.

Unsung hero: San Clemente’s Mike Parsons, the U.S. team captain. He surfed consistently and designed an outstanding strategy in the tag-team competition. His cool, calm attitude helped smooth over some ill feelings when Slater tried to leave the contest early.

Unsung heroine: Laguna Beach’s Alisa Schwarzstein. She upset Burridge, the leader on the world tour, in a head-to-head meeting Sunday. Schwarzstein’s steady surfing and quick wave selection were keys to three U.S. victories in the tag-team event.

Mr. Clutch: Todd Holland of the United States. Holland lost two of his four one-on-one heats, but outscored Australia’s Glen Winton by 10 points in the finals to preserve the U.S. team’s victory.

Mr. Perspective: Who else but Newport Beach’s Richie Collins? Collins entertained the media with his views on:

--The earthquakes: “If you’re going to die, it might as well be on the beach.”

--The rivalry with Australia: “I’m going to bring shotguns and grenades.”

--Manly, Australia, home of 1991 Op champion Barton Lynch: “Barton tries to raze on over here (Huntington Beach) but Manly is about 100 times worse. It’s so polluted, it’s incredible.”

Best psyche job: Perhaps no one enjoyed the team competition more than Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia. Thursday, he vowed Hawaii “would beat the Australians like yesterday’s news.” The Hawaiians beat Australia head-to-head Friday, but missed the finals with a last-place finish in Saturday’s tag-team event.

Best tackle: Garcia and Kaipo Jaquias of Hawaii. They buried Winton with a gang-tackle as he tried to cross the finish line in Saturday’s tag-team competition. Rams and Raiders should take notice.

Best wipeout: Hawaii’s Marty Thomas, who did the splits while attempting a maneuver, injuring his lower back. “I felt like Nadia Comaneci out there,” said Thomas, who wasn’t seriously injured.

Wish-you-were-here award: Santa Barbara’s Tom Curren. It’s just not the Op Pro without him.

Just a suggestion: If the financial burden of running a world championship event is too much for one Orange County beachwear company, perhaps it should be shared.

Op’s $85,000 purse fell $35,000 short of the amount required by the Assn. of Surfing Professionals for a championship event.

As a result, Op had to switch from its past format to a team format, leaving Southern California without a world championship contest and excluding many of the world’s top surfers.

Here’s an idea--What if three county beachwear companies, let’s say Gotcha, Quiksilver and Op, sponsored a world championship event at the pier?

The companies could share the production costs and each post $50,000 in prize money. The combined $150,000 purse would surpass the required amount by $25,000, and the remainder could go to the winning team in a post-contest tag-team competition.

Bet Curren would show up then. Maybe even Potter.

Perhaps it’s time for beachwear companies to put their business rivalries aside and do something for the sport in Southern California--reward the local surfers who compete on the tour by giving them a championship event in their home surf.

And reward the local surfing fans who buy their products.

Team spirit: Several surfers have criticized Op’s switch to a team format, but most of the surfers who competed said they would enter the contest again next year.

But Slater said he wants the Op format to return to individual championships next year.

“It would be fun to have a tag-team competition afterward,” he said.

Earthquake stories: Anaheim’s David Pina was surfing in his Op Junior semifinal when Sunday’s second earthquake hit.

“I heard all the people on the beach hooting and hollering,” he said. “When I looked up, I saw the windows in Maxwell’s (restaurant) shaking.”

Schwarzstein said Sunday’s first quake woke her at her Laguna Beach home.

“Our house felt like it was coming off of the foundation,” she said. “We have a pool in our back yard, and we could hear waves breaking back there.”

History lesson: Op has billed its event as the debut of international team surfing in the United States. Although the format is somewhat unique, the team concept is nothing new to Southern California.

Before the Op, there was the Katin Pro-Am Team Challenge.

The Katin began in January, 1977, and was an annual event until 1984. It drew some of the world’s top surfers to compete at the Huntington Beach cliffs.

It featured four-man teams from Australia, the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Most of the teams were sponsored by surfboard manufacturers and equipment companies.

According to the 1980 Katin program, South Africa’s Shaun Tomson, surfing for Team O’Neill, won the first Katin title, taking home $4,250. Kanoa Surf won the team title.

Former world champion Peter Townend, now residing in Fountain Valley, finished second in 1979 and led the “Bronzed Aussies” to the team title. The top amateur that year was Huntington Beach’s Bud Llamas, who went on to surf professionally on the U.S. tour.

Townend remembers the Katin well.

“I finished second again in 1982 to Tom Curren,” Townend said, “but he was an amateur at the time, so I got to keep all the prize money.”

Others who competed at the Katin were Wayne Lynch, Rabbit Bartholomew and Greg Mungall, who edged Townend to win the 1979 contest.

The first Katin offered $10,000 in prize money, but the purse later grew to $15,000.

The Katin’s prize money was awarded based on individual performances, but team standings also were kept. The Op Pro features a tag-team competition and divides prize money among teams instead of individual performances.

Beach Notes

Six San Clemente surfers will be among the 15 competing for a U.S. team at the Bali Junior World Championships July 11-15. The team leaves today for the five-day contest, which has drawn teams from Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan, the French Islands and Bali. Among the surfers competing are San Clemente’s Gavin Beschen, Mason Morouse, Micah Pitts, Maili Rohner, Justin Ross and Josh Vesque. Surfside’s Jodie Downs also is competing. The team is coached by Joe Machado of Cardiff, Robbie Todd of Monrovia, Dean Reynolds of San Clemente and Roland Maus and Raoul Tallon, both of Carlsbad.