More than 100 of the world’s top professional women surfers will hit the waves off Oceanside Pier beach Friday and over the weekend in the ninth annual Supergirl Pro Championship.
Sage Erickson, 24, is last year’s defending champ, and currently ranked 17 on the World Champion Tour.
She said women surfers are now getting just as much prize money as men, and have just as many opportunities to compete.
“As a girl or as a women competing on the tour, I think it couldn’t be any better timing,” Erickson said.
Waves during the three-day competition are expected to be consistent, at two to three feet, which will allow surfers to show off their best moves to an expected crowd of 67,000.
Top surfers include Alana Blanchard, Courtney Conlogue, Coco Ho, Malia Manuel and Lakey Peterson.
“It makes the surfing exciting and every heat is really hard,” Erickson said. “You’re not just smooth sailing through.”
Erickson said winning the competition takes training, time in the water, gauging unpredictable waves, and the will to win.
She describes last year’s final heat that brought her the win.
“I just kind of had this deja vu moment where I remembered what it felt like to win,” Erickson said. “I just wanted to perform for everyone on the beach, there are so many women, and so many little girls coming up and encouraging me, and that kind of stuff inspires me.”
The championship is the action sports industry’s largest all-female competition. As well as surfing, there will be women pro skateboarding demonstrations, hip hop dancing, yoga and live music
Supergirl Pro runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the south side of the Oceanside pier. The event is free to attend.
For more information, go to www.supergirlpro.com.
