Huntington Beach’s Allerton Advances in the Wake of a Legend

When Eve Allerton surfed against Frieda Zamba in the semifinals of the Op Pro last year, Allerton felt lucky just to lose to the surfing legend.

Zamba, a four-time world champion, had won the contest five times. Allerton, a Huntington Beach native, was competing in her first Op Pro.

This year the two met again in the second round of trials, and after 20 minutes of tension for Allerton, both advanced.

Zamba, as expected, dominated from the opening siren. Scoring four- and five-point waves to her competitors two- and three-pointers, Zamba’s appearance in the main event was never in doubt. The only reason she started with the trials is that, in semi-retirement now, she hasn’t surfed enough events to be seeded.

Allerton, at the other extreme, was in third place with two minutes left in the 20-minute heat. Finally she caught the wave she needed, scored a 3.17 and then closely guarded her lead as the clock ran out.

“It was a real heart-stopper out there,” Allerton said. “I got lucky at the end and then I just sat on that other girl. I got so close to her, I didn’t want her even looking at another wave.”

Oceanside’s Liz Motshagen, 28, the other girl, missed the cut by .51 points.

Allerton began surfing at 14 and surfed competitively for Edison High. She continued competing for Golden West College, where she won the national collegiate championship.

“I’m no stranger to tight heats,” she said. “But this was a little too close. I’m definitely going to enjoy this tonight. I’ll probably take all my friends out for drinks. This is like the Olympics for us.”

Allerton, Zamba and others who advanced will surf again in the main round at 4:20 p.m. Thursday. Joining them will be 16 of the world’s best surfers, including Nea Post of Huntington Beach, Alisa Schwarzstein of Laguna Beach and Lisa Andersen from Ormond Beach, Fla.

In the first round of men’s surfing, Scott Finn of Dana Point, David Pina of Anaheim, Billy Oswald and Barry Deffenbaugh of Huntington Beach advanced to the second round of trials, which begins today at 6 a.m.

In the Op Junior, the high score went to Corey Lopez of Florida. He scored 24.03 on four waves and will surf again in Heat 4 of the quarterfinals, scheduled for 4:40 p.m. Saturday.

Notes

Today’s schedule: 6-11:20 a.m., men’s surfing trials Round 2, Heats 1-16; 11:20 a.m.-4:40 p.m., men’s surfing trials Round 3, Heats 1-16, 4:40-7:20 p.m.