by admin
sixth annual Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am surfing competition july 16-18
Fans flocked Wrightsville Beach on Friday for the first day of competition in the sixth annual Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am surfing competition. Despite rain for most of the week and more threats of percipitation for the weekend, the sun beamed down as things began.
Preliminary round action for the professionals and the amateur guys 15 and over division highlighted the opening morning. Wrightsville Beach’s Jarrod Covington placed fourth in the amateur 15 and over.
Despite a worse finish than he hoped, the 22-year-old Covington said he had fun competing in his hometown for the third year in a row.
“I heard about Sweetwater when I was in high school, and I’ve been following it ever since,” he said. “It’s pretty sick to see talent from across the country come to Wrightsville to compete.”
A few of Covington’s friends came to watch him surf. Despite also living in Wrightsville Beach, this was their first time watching the event.
“This tournament is fabulous,” 24-year-old Lauren Deibel said. “And I think (Covington) performed pretty well.”
The crowd had some international influence as well, as Canadians Roland and Shelley Labrecque decided to watch at the tail end of their vacation. They originally planned to go back home a few days ago until they read about the competition online.
“We’re all about the surfing lifestyle, so we like to participate in things like this whenever we can,” Roland Labrecque said. “There’s no surfing like this in Canada.”
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