Andersen Falls Short in Bid to Beat the Men

Lisa Andersen’s bid to surf in the men’s division of the G-Shock U.S. Open of Surfing came to an abrupt end Tuesday after she lost in the opening round.

Andersen, 28, the women’s defending world champion, was coming off a successful showing at the Katin Challenge two weeks ago, where she advanced to the sixth round in the men’s open division in Huntington Beach.

This time, however, Andersen had a tough time in the six-foot waves on the south side of the pier.

Andersen finished last in her heat of four. Issac Kaneshiro of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, was first. He advanced to the fourth round of the men’s trials heat, which continue today.

“I did really bad out there,” Andersen said. “I just wish I had more time to prepare. And it really is a factor in how you surf when you have to be doing interviews and photo shoots all the time. I really wish I wasn’t the only one out here who did this [interviews].”

Rochelle Ballard of Hawaii, who is ranked eighth in the world and is competing against Andersen in both of the women’s divisions, said Andersen’s endeavor into men’s surfing can only help the sport and women’s surfing.

“Surfing with the men is a challenge. It can only help accelerate her expertise,” Ballard said. “I’m even thinking of doing it myself.”

Ian Cairns, executive director of U.S. Surfing and contest organizer for the the U.S. Open, said he has every reason to believe that women can surf as well as the men.

“I think there is no physical reason why the women can’t be as good as the men,” Cairns said. “Someone like Lisa, if she can hang in there, will reap big benefits from surfing with the men. It will give her a new standard to perform at.”

Andersen will compete today in the quarterfinals of the women’s overall division, and the Kahlua Open women’s division, for the top competitors on the world tour, which starts Friday.

In other competition Tuesday, San Clemente surfer Geoff Moysa demonstrated his talents on the shortboard as he advanced two rounds in the men’s open division.

Moysa, the International Surfing Assn.’s 1996 longboard world champion, works out exclusively with a shortboard, and only gets on his longboard when he competes.

“My shortboard and longboard are similarly shaped,” Moysa said. “So even though I’ll be surfing on my shortboard, I’ll be doing almost the same moves that I would do on the longboard.”

Some other county surfers who advanced were Ryan Simmons, a junior at Huntington Beach High, and James Pribram of Laguna Beach, who won his heat. The men’s surfing trials continue today with the fourth round as does the Junior ProAm main event.

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Surf’s Up!

* What: The G-Shock U.S. Open of Surfing.

* Where: Huntington Beach, south of the pier.

* When: Today through Sunday. Competition is 7 a.m.-5 p.m. each day except Sunday, when it’s 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

* Today’s schedule: Men’s surfing trials, Wahine women’s quarterfinals, junior pro-am main event

* Tickets: Free sand and bleacher seating all days of the competition; however, premium stadium seating packages available for Saturday and Sunday.

* Website address: Surflink will provide regular scoring updates and photos during the competition at https://www.surflink.com