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The SLO Cal Open at Pismo Beach is over and the results are in. The North America Qualifying Series (QS) 3,000 women’s and men’s events were won by Talia Swindal and Taj Lindblad, respectively. Meanwhile, the concurrent Pro Junior events were won by Sanoa Dempfle-Olin and Kai Kushner.
The women’s QS Final came down to a showdown between Talia Swindal and Bella Kenworthy in three-to-five foot swell. Kenworthy found an early lead with a 7.33 to Swindal’s 6.00. However, Swindal found a running right hander with multiple sections that allowed her to land an 8.00 and secure the win. The victory puts Swindal at number one on the North America QS rankings, tied with Kirra Pinkerton.
“I feel so good, I can’t believe it. I’m just so thankful,” said Swindal to the WSL. “I want to dedicate this win to Lyon Herron, Lyon forever. It was so special to share that final with Bella. I know she can throw a 9 or a 10 whenever she has to so I’m never comfortable out there with her having priority and needing a score. This means so much and just thank you to everyone supporting me; my family, my friends. This is incredible.”
Meanwhile, in the men’s QS event, San Clemente’s Taj Lindblad faced off against Mexico’s Alan Cleland. Until the midpoint, Cleland was ahead with an 14.66 overall. However, Lindblad scored a near-perfect 9.40 and an excellent 8.13, which proved to be an uncatchable lead.
“This is insane, there’s a lot of ups and downs in surfing and I knew sometime would be my up,” said Lindblad. “It’s been a hard year and I hadn’t made a heat since April until Morro Bay in December. Just getting through that tough time and grinding through it paid off. [Kolohe] Andino helped me a lot, Ryan Simmons, my parents, my sister Sawyer whose a guru in heats. Thank you for everything and I’m so stoked to take this win.”
The women’s Pro Junior final came down to a heat between Sanoa Dempfle-Olin, Talia Swindal, Bella Kenworthy, and Reid Van Wagoner. It was a close race, with Swindal and Kenworthy neck and neck, chasing Dempfle-Olin’s lead in the closing seconds. However, Dempfle-Olin emerged victorious, earning her first WSL Pro Junior win, alongside a 2023 QS victory.
“I’m super happy to take win in the Pro Junior, it was such a hard final,” said Dempfle-Olin. “I had a slower QS semifinal and it felt really good to a get a wave. I was definitely motivated in that one. Thank you to everyone watching and supporting me, my family back at home, and Matt [Myers] and the crew. The vibes were great all week and I’m super happy.”
In the men’s Pro Junior event, Kai Kushner earned his first WSL win in a finals heat against Ryan Huckabee, Luke Wyler, and Lucas Cassity. Kushner’s victory places him at number one in the North America Pro Junior rankings.
“That was a lot of work and it feels amazing to finally get a win,” said Kushner. “I’m in the zone when I’m out there and you have to be mentally strong. So to that get that wave under pressure and get the score is amazing. I want to say thank you to Josh and Jacob [Burke] for being here for me and everyone else at home, my family, for supporting me. I started meditating and just felt my surfing getting better the last few months so it’s great to see it all come together.”
