ASP Office to Leave Irvine for Australia
After 16 years in the United States, the Assn. of Surfing Professionals has moved its main office from Irvine to Australia.
The Irvine office was closed Wednesday, said Graham Stapelberg, who stepped down as executive director of the international organization a few months ago.
The new chief executive of ASP International is former world champion surfer Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, who lives in Australia.
“When they approached Rabbit about becoming the CEO, one of his demands before taking the job was that the main office be based in Australia, where he lives,” said Stapelberg, who is now marketing director for Billabong USA.
Stapelberg, 37, who had worked for ASP for 12 years and had been executive director since 1994, said U.S. Surfing will take on the duties as the ASP Northern American representative.
“It’s a restructuring move on the part of ASP, but it puts a lot more stuff on the plate for some folks who already have full plates,” Stapelberg said.
Ian Cairns, executive director of U.S. Surfing and North American representative for ASP, said the workload won’t bother him since his offices have been doing this work all along.
“I think in the last few years, the ASP has suffered from lack of [surf] industry involvement, which is one of the reasons ASP moved back to Australia,” Cairns said. “Since Billabong, Quicksilver and Rip Curl are based in Australia, this will help rebuild the industry ties with the ASP. And in the long run, this will be a healthy thing for surfing.”
The ASP represents about 1,700 surfers and is the governing body of professional surfing. The new offices are in Coolangatta, on the Gold Coast of Australia.
“The U.S. has a big presence in surfing, and ASP officials have ensured those concerned that they will be making regular visits to the U.S,” Stapelberg said.
As far as the move hurting surfing interest in the United States, Cairns said it will make the country more responsible for its own interest.
Stapelberg said ASP International officials will meet with surf industry leaders July 25-27 in Huntington Beach to answer any questions or concerns.
Stapelberg said there are some things he’ll miss about his position with ASP, but he won’t miss the traveling.
“I’ve got a little boy now, and my life had changed. So it gets kind of tiring when you’re in an airplane six to seven months out of the year,” he said.
Stapelberg said since changing jobs he has had more time for surfing at some of Orange County local spots.
“It was a bit crazy when you think I would be in some exotic location and I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the surfing there because I would be too busy,” he said.
KICKING UP WAVES
While ocean swimming competition is year-round, activity picks up as the water warms up in the summer.
July begins with the Santa Barbara six-mile View Ocean Race on Sunday. Contact Pete Kelly at (805) 528-3575 for more information.
On July 10, two races will be contested. Newport Beach will host a 10K (contact Jim Turner at 949-644-3046) and another event will be at Malibu-Zuma Beach (Scott Hubble, 310-457-6181).
On July 17, it’s Orange County’s granddaddy of ocean swims--the Seal Beach Rough Water Swim (562-430-1092). Also in the county on July 18 is the San Clemente Ocean Festival (949-440-1092). And wrapping the month are the Naples Island Swims on July 25 (Lucy Johnson, 562-431-0052.
For more information on ocean swimming, contact the Southern Pacific Masters Assn. at (310) 451-6666 or by e-mail at swimnet@earthlink.net
HONOLULU-BOUND
Skipper Lou Grasso from the Newport Beach Yacht Club and his crew aboard Front Runner will begin the Transpac Division I sailing race from Palos Verdes to Honolulu, Saturday at 1 p.m. The race covers 2,225 nautical miles.
Skipper Carl Vanderbeek and the crew aboard the Goodnight Moon, based out of the Dana Point Yacht Club, started the Cruising Division race Tuesday.
VOLLEYBALL SHORTS
The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals will hold its U.S. Open tournament this weekend in Chicago, the third of four events this season that will have both men’s and women’s competitions.
It will be one of the few remaining tournaments for the women, who also will play in another AVP Grand Slam event July 10 and 11 in Muskegon, Mich., before heading to Marseilles, France, for the FIVB World Championships July 19-24.
The teams of Linda Hanley (Laguna Beach High) and Nancy Reno, Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs (El Toro High) are among the teams expected to represent the U.S. in the world championships, which is the last scheduled women’s tournament until Sept. 10-12. That’s when the Oldsmobile Alero tour has its final women’s event in San Diego.
Youngs and Masakayan teamed to win their third title this season last weekend in Virginia Beach, Va. The tour was set up in conjunction with U.S. Volleyball to help select its Sydney 2000 Olympic teams.
For the men this weekend in Chicago, San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly is still seeking his record 140th title after he and teammate Adam Johnson (Laguna Beach High) were eliminated in the semifinals last weekend. Mike Whitmarsh and Dave Swatik won their second consecutive title last week in Belmar, N.J.
Staff writer Michael Itagaki contributed to this story.