He Traveled Far to Find His Own Paradise by Sea
It’s a gorgeous Sunday morning at Oceanside Harbor Beach, where dozens of groggy teenagers dressed in stylish wetsuits are preparing to compete in the Interscholastic Surfing Federation championships.
There are no cheerleaders, no tuba players, no college scouts and no profanity-yelling spectators.
There is only one sportswriter foolish enough to rise at 4:15 a.m. and drive 110 miles from the San Fernando Valley to learn what makes teenagers sacrifice sleeping in on a Sunday morning for the thrill of riding a wave.
The water temperature is a chilly 58 degrees, but no one is complaining. Southern California is known for its earthquakes, smog alerts, car chases and sensational murder trials, but it’s days like this that make many vow to never leave.
A quick scan of the newspaper’s weather page reveals it’s 20 degrees in Fairbanks, Alaska; 48 in Milwaukee; 54 in Chicago; 41 in Concord, N.H.; 19 in Billings, Mont.; 32 in Spokane, Wash.
Here, it’s paradise, with temperatures in the 60s and waves between two and four feet.
OK, so the teenagers aren’t munching on granola bars for their pre-surf meal. They’re eating doughnuts.
“We go for the sugar high,” one coach said.
Three to a team, they paddle out, eventually numbering 24 competitors in four heats, one high school surfing squad competing against another, with judges awarding points based on wave selection, length of ride and style.
No one is making jokes about any of the judges being from France, although Coach Steve Marion from Long Beach Wilson said, “I believe they’re all from another country when they judge my kids.”
There are more than 300 surfers representing 26 schools. The 4-A division is made up of coastal high schools within five miles of the beach. The 3-A division is composed of inland schools.
Some surfers wanted to be inconspicuous, like Luke Swift of Santa Ana Mater Dei. By day, he’s a junior varsity basketball player. There’s no way he wants varsity basketball Coach Gary McKnight to know that instead of practicing jump shots on a Sunday morning, he’s going airborne on a Fiberglas board after pumping himself up with high-volume punk rock.
Asked if any of his basketball buddies were joining him, Swift said, “They’re all asleep.”
Bill Steinriede, coach at Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, said he doesn’t have too many problems filling spots on his surf team.
“The chicks dig the surfers more than football players,” he said.
Steinriede’s daughter, Lindsay, surfs for rival Dana Hills. She plays volleyball, soccer and is a pole vaulter. She was taking a nap in her father’s truck before hitting the waves. Is surfing really worth it?
“It’s what I do with my free time,” she said. “There’s definitely a lot of hot guys out here.”
The girls don’t surf solely because of the company. Like the boys, they surf for the adrenaline rush.
“I love surfing,” said freshman Erica Hosseini of San Clemente. “I’ll do anything for surfing. All my friends think I’m crazy. A lot of people don’t understand. They go, ‘Oh, the water is so cold,’ but once you get on the wave, there’s no stopping you.”
Two juniors, Travis Mellem of San Clemente and Brett Simpson of Huntington Beach, are surfing’s equivalent of a highly-recruited football standout. Everyone recognizes them on the beach.
Simpson leaves in April on a trip to Panama for a surfing magazine photo shoot. He has been surfing since he was 12, when a friend introduced him to the sport. Now he surfs every day, morning and afternoon.
“I got addicted to it,” he said. “It’s the funnest thing.”
The fact he earns five units school credit for surfing class is “the best thing that can ever be,” he said.
Mellem started surfing at 9 and is one of the best for his age group.
“It’s always fun,” he said. “It’s something I can do for the rest of my life.”
There are stereotypes of surfers being part of some counterculture who utter only words such as “dude.” But you can find as many honor students on the beach as in the school library.
San Clemente has become the surfing mecca of high schools. The Tritons won the overall state championship Sunday after first-place finishes in girls’ shortboard, longboard and bodyboard and a second-place finish in boys’ shortboard. Huntington Beach, led by Simpson, won the boys’ shortboard title.
There were no scenes of surfers smashing boards, having temper tantrums or threatening to transfer to a better surfing school.
This was high school sports at its best.
“You can lose and still have fun,” said junior Ryan Deffebach of Aliso Niguel.
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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
