Hurricane Bertha Wasn't an Ill Wind for Everyone

By ERIK HAMILTON and WENDY WITHERSPOON

July 18, 1996 12 AM PT

It was just too much for Jay Reale to handle. All last week, the news about Hurricane Bertha made the San Clemente bodyboarder want to pack his bags and scramble to get there.

“I was monitoring Bertha over the Internet,” Reale said. “I just love that stuff since I studied meteorology in college. And I love the East Coast for its radical weather.”

Last Thursday morning Reale woke up to news reports of Bertha having a field day back near his childhood home in Maryland.

“At that point, it looked like Bertha was cranking, so I literally dragged Vicki [Gleeson, his girlfriend] out of bed and headed to the airport to catch a flight back East,” Reale said.

By Friday, Reale and Gleeson were enjoying six- to eight-foot waves.

“It was so cool. The water temperature was about 70 degrees and the waves were great. And afterward, Vicki and I would eat some clams at my folks’ house,” Reale said.

What’s it like to ride hurricane-inspired waves?

“Actually, I’ve ridden waves with a 30-foot face at Waimea Bay [in Hawaii],” Reale said. “Now there, your life is literally in your own hands. You’re holding on to your board with all your strength, trying to make it to the bottom of the wave and getting out. No tricks here. It’s all-consuming.”

Reale and Gleeson are among the world’s top bodyboarders. Reale is ranked 17th on the Global Organization of Bodyboarding tour. Gleeson, a native of Australia, is eighth on the world tour.

“We practice together every day at least 1 1/2 hours a day. And when the waves are good, we can spend up to six hours practicing,” Reale said.

Reale first met Gleeson in 1990, when he was between competitions in Australia. He stopped in Gleeson’s hometown, where he met the local bodyboard club, which included Gleeson. The two struck a friendship and exchanged letters for two years.

“Vicki is a great bodyboarder,” Reale said. “And in the medium to small surf, she can do anything a man can do.”

Gleeson’s brother introduced her to bodyboarding.

“Bodyboarding is better received than in America,” she said. “In Australia, bodyboarding is everywhere and the surfers don’t seem to have the same problem with the sport as they do here.”

“It’s changing a little,” said Reale, 32. “But there are still some places that are off-limits to bodyboarders, like Palos Verdes. If you take your turn and don’t drop in on anybody, the surfers will tolerate you.”

Reale and Gleeson are looking forward to the U.S. Open in Huntington Beach, which starts Aug. 6. For Reale, the $20,000 purse is a big enticement. But for Gleeson, the event is particularly noteworthy because women will compete in the bodyboarding portion of the contest for the first time.

“My main goal is to make it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open,” Gleeson, 23, said. “I think I have a good chance to go further and it would be important to me to do it at this event.”

One of the sport’s attractions is that new maneuvers are being tried all the time.

“There is some bizarre stuff out there like the back flip reverse rollo and this new maneuver called the hub,” Reale said. The hub consists of riding to the top of the wave where a 360 is executed off the lip followed by a flip and a rollo. The maneuver was created by Jeff Hubbard, who will competing at the U.S. Open.

“I just like to do it,” Gleeson said. “It seems to come easy to me. And besides, it’s good exercise, you get a great tan and then there’s the guys.”

“What?” Reale shouted in the background, as Gleeson laughed.

Masquerading as a Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League event, the men’s competition at Huntington Beach last weekend was more like a welcome-home party for former area players.

Consider the participants on the four teams:

OP--Carlos Briceno (Fountain Valley High), Leland Quinn (Ocean View High and UC Irvine), and Dusty Dvorak (Laguna Beach High).

Sony Autosound--Alan Knipe (Marina High and Long Beach State).

Outdoor Products--Dan Hanan (Edison High).

Paul Mitchell--Mark Presho (Edison High).

“It was like an old-time all-star game,” said Quinn, a rookie who replaced former Edison High standout Mike Diehl on Team OP after Diehl quit the league July 11.

Quinn especially enjoyed playing at Huntington Beach after playing indoors last year in the Dutch Professional League.

“It’s great, I’m going to go paddle out and [surf] before the sun goes down,” he said.

Add four-man: Twelve years after winning an Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles, Dusty Dvorak is still setting volleyballs.

“I’m not going to be setting a ball the day I die, but I enjoy it,” he said glancing out over the sunset at Huntington Beach. “Look at this.”

Dvorak, 37, led his Team OP to a 3-0 record in pool play at Huntington Beach before losing in the final to Paul Mitchell. He lives in Laguna Beach with his wife, Wendi, and 3-year-old daughter, Stormy.

Other vintage players on the four-man tour are: two-time Olympic gold medalist Craig Buck, 37, and Buck’s 1988 Olympic teammate, Doug Partie, 34. Buck plays for Paul Mitchell and Partie is the captain of Sony Autosound. Olympic gold medalist Steve Salmons, 38, was the oldest player on the tour before he was released by Hanan last week for Jose Gandara, 28.

Last add four-man: The women not only provided a more exciting championship game than the men at Huntington Beach, but they also were more entertaining.

The women’s Team Paul Mitchell broke out of an 11-11 tie before beating Discus Athletics, 15-11, Saturday. The men’s Team Paul Mitchell cruised almost unchallenged to a 15-6 victory over OP on Sunday.

What’s more, Kim Oden, Stephanie Cox, Brita Schwerm and Wendy Stammer had the crowd singing along when they took the sand at center court for a lip-sync of the Village People’s “YMCA.” Oden, formerly of Irvine High, and Schwerm, a former All-American at Long Beach State, play for Sony Autosound. Cox, formerly of Mission Viejo High, plays for Discus Athletic and Stammer, formerly of Louisiana State, plays for Norelco.

Christian Kiernan, formerly of Laguna Beach, will be one of several players with local ties participating in the amateur Jose Cuervo California Championships on Sunday at Hermosa Beach.

Kiernan, 33, won the men’s open at Santa Barbara June 23 to qualify for the California Championships. Kiernan will play against the winners of the other California tour stops as well as the winners of a qualifying tournament Saturday at Hermosa Beach.

Kiernan’s regular partner, Sean Davis, sprained his ankle and can’t play, so Kiernan picked up Marc Jones of San Diego, former U.S. national team member, for Sunday’s tournament. Kiernan grew up playing beach volleyball in Laguna Beach and played one year of junior varsity volleyball at Laguna Beach High before attending a boarding school in Steamboat Springs, Colo.

He returned to California and led Santa Monica College to the 1981 state final.

“I’m a part-time player, but I love the game,” said Kiernan, a landscaper.

Kiernan’s wife, Elizabeth Chavez, 33, also will play in the California Championships Sunday.

On the Beach appears weekly during the summer. Witherspoon and Hamilton can be reached at (714) 966-5904.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Upcoming Events

A weekly list of volleyball, surfing and other beach competitions in Orange County.

* California Beach Volleyball Assn. tournament

When: Saturday

Where: Laguna Beach

Divisions: Women’s Open

Cost: $30 per team. CBVA membership is mandatory and can be purchased for $10 per person at registration.