Tiny Waves, Big Finish at Surf City

Australian Michael Campbell said all American surfers were pathetic. Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia said Michael Campbell is pathetic. The first was a bit of Aussie bravado, the second probably a bit of an overreaction.

In reality, the only thing that truly was pathetic was the surf south of the Huntington Beach Pier as No. 1 Garcia and No. 6 Campbell squared off for the final of the Bluetorch Pro Sunday afternoon.

After spending the first third of the 35-minute final sitting on their boards in the gently rolling sea that provided no bumps big enough to catch, Campbell and Garcia made the most of the few swells that did roll in and slashed their way to a finish that was dramatic if not dynamic.

Garcia, needing a score of 4.86 to take the lead, caught a small wave near the pier and milked it all the way until his fins hit the sand as the horn sounded ending the competition. He stood on the beach holding his board and looking up to the judges’ tower. Campbell sat on his board in the lineup, looking up at the judges.

When the score was announced, it was Campbell who slapped at the water and thrust both fists in the air in a victory salute. He had edged Garcia, 19.60-19, winning $15,000 in the process.

Then the action really started.

Garcia, who increased his lead in the World Championship Tour rankings over second-place Luke Egan of Australia, accepted his second-place check for $8,000, thanked the crowd of about 40,000 for their overwhelming support, said he was sorry for “letting down America,” and then slipped off the victory stand without shaking Campbell’s hand.

“I read in an Australian [surfing] magazine that he said all American surfers were pathetic,” Garcia said. “I’m very upset about losing to Mick. I’m American, so I take it as Mick saying I’m pathetic.”

Then he fired a verbal shot of his own, questioning Campbell’s courage when it comes to taking off in the critical section of the big, hollow waves at Banzai Pipeline: “You want to see pathetic, you should see Mick sitting on the shoulder at Pipe. Now that’s pathetic.”

Campbell said the comment in the magazine was made with the intention of “stirring the pot.” Apparently, he succeeded in getting into Garcia’s kitchen.

“We’ve got a thing called freedom of speech, mate,” Campbell said, “and if people want to take it personally, that’s their problem. I’ve got a lot of respect for Sunny. Maybe he doesn’t respect me, but that’s all right.

“I wasn’t really serious, it was just a little mind game to get people flustered. Hopefully, they’ll be falling off because they’re stressing about how much they hate me.”

Garcia did in fact lose his balance--and a potentially high-scoring wave in the process--after a radical cutback and tail slide midway through the heat, a miscue that probably cost him his third victory in six WCT events this season.

“I felt like I was the better surfer out there, but I fell on a couple of waves that might have made a difference,” he said. “But I’m not going to wrack my brain about what happened and what I could have done differently. That won’t do any good now.”

Campbell paddled straight to the southernmost boundary of the contest area, about 100 yards south of the pier, as the heat began. Garcia chose the middle ground, but Campbell got the first rideable swells and had scoring waves of 5.5 and 6.5--the top three rides are totaled for the final score--to earn an early advantage.

About halfway through the final, Garcia finally paddled into a well-formed left. He carved several big turns and cutbacks and stayed with the wave into the shorebreak where he pulled off a couple more moves. He was rewarded with an 8.0, the highest score of the heat.

Garcia’s next-best wave was a 6.75, which he completed near the beach with less than three minutes remaining. He needed to better the 4.25 that was his third-best, but Mother Nature failed to answer his call as the Pacific went flat again. He grabbed a small wave with 14 seconds left and did everything he could to pull out a win, but could muster only a 3.75.

Campbell sat and watched, but hardly with a sense of dread.

“There was really nothing of the wave on the outside and it’s virtually impossible to score a high-four on the reform,” Campbell said.

“I’m so stoked to have won here. It’s huge to win in front of the whole surf industry and all your sponsors. I love America.”

He’s also one Aussie who likes American beer--”I’ll be drinking a couple of gallons tonight”--but Garcia will have to settle for swallowing his pride . . . for now. The Panasonic ShockWave U.S. Open begins today in Huntington Beach and there will be at least one American surfer who will hit the waves--hopefully there will be some--with a vengeance.

“I hate losing,” Garcia said. “Thirty-third or second, it feels the same to me. I don’t care if I made points in the rankings, I feel like I let myself and everybody else down.”