■ The Virginia Beach Contests for the East Coast Championships were held August 24th and 25th. Saturday the 24th was a beautiful day, with slight clouds and a mild on-shore wind. The waves were 3 to 4 feet, semi-glassy, and could be considered fair to good. On Sunday the 25th the winds were slightly off-shore for all events, with good waves. They were a little smaller than the day before, but much better shaped because of the off-shore wind directly holding them. The weather was very hot and the waves extremely glassy and 3 to 4 feet. However, the consistency of them were about 2 to 3 feet. Because of the wave shape, the rides were better than on Saturday and the competition was keener. The first event on the schedule was the midget contest. It was a pleasure to watch with these young men ripping and carving up the waves, sometimes getting lost inside them and then come snapping out with no sweat at all. The midget top scorer was Hobie Alter, Jr. from Dana Point, California, with Glenn Magill from Atlantic City, New Jersey 2nd. Third

place went to Wayne Blizzard of Ocean City, New Jersey. Steve Cole from Virginia Beach was 4th and Christian Binford, also from Virginia Beach nailed down the 5th slot. In the Boys’ finals, competition was very hot and keen with the top names from the surfing world in the Boy’s division. In first place was David Judson from Satellite Beach, Florida, and in 2nd place Mickey Marsh from North Carolina. Third place was taken by young Benjie McRoberts, who is a fast upcoming surfer, from Cocoa Beach, Florida. A boy we never heard of before, who did a beautiful job, was Marc Theriault from Virginia Beach in 4th place. In 5th place was one of the Rolands from Jacksonville, Fla., Brad Roland.

Getting into the Junior finals was another top notch competition, with John Bromirski from St. Augustine, Fla., coming into the first spot. Here is what John Bromirski had to say about his win in a taped interview with ISM reporter Mickey Gose.

ISM: John, would you mind (Continued on page 20)

telling our readers just how old you are?

ISM: How long have you been competing in surfing?

ISM: No kidding! That makes three new individuals. When I say three new individuals, I mean Elaine Davis, Biddy Hunter and yourself. How many contests have you competed in so far?

ISM: Seven contests. How are your standings now in 1A and 3A? How are you in the 4A?

JOHN: I am not sure whether I am in the 4A or not.

ISM: It would be pretty hard to get up into the 4A from the Junior division, but you have a couple of good years ahead of you and you probably can get into it with your ability. That same ability we saw out there today, right?

ISM: Well I hope so. Why don’t you give us a breakdown

on what you thought of the contest on Saturday? Did you compete Saturday?

JOHN: Yes Sir, I did. The waves were about 2 to 3 feet and semi-glassy. The lefts were more favorable than the rights.

ISM: Are you a goofy footer or regular stance?

ISM: So you must have been in a little bit of heaven with those lefts pulling through.

ISM: How about on Sunday? The waves looked like they were in a lot better shape than on Saturday; even the size had dropped because of the off-shore wind which looked real good. What do you think?

JOHN: Yes Sir. They were good for a contest. You had to put more into it on Sunday than you did on Saturday because they were smaller.

ISM: How about your competition? Give us a breakdown on it. Was there anything (Continued on page 60)

especially outstanding in your finals that comes to your mind. Maybe some rides that you got, or some that you saw of your competitors’?

JOHN: The only ride that I saw was Bob Buxton, who really looked hot out there.

ISM: Well, Bob finished 2nd behind you. Were you worried about him at all?

ISM: Who were all the guys in your event and how did they fare? Do you know?

JOHN: It was myself, Bucky Norris, Bob Buxton, Vince Troniec and Cheer Critchlow. I was first. Bob Buxton- was 2nd, Bucky Norris was 3rd, Vince Troniec was 4th, and Cheer Critchlow was 5th.

ISM: Well to me that’s quite amazing because Cheer Critchlow is the only one from California. I’ve seen the kid surf before and he’s a very hot surfer. This is kind of amazing to me, that all East Coasters literally clean the field leaving him in 5th place.

JOHN: Yes, that’s because the waves were small and we are used to them. In the bigger waves I think he would have won.

ISM: I’ve seen him rip, man. The guy is really hot.

seeing you around, probably at Cocoa Beach. Are you competing there? JOHN: Yes, I am.

In the Women’s finals it was a little bit different; a little twist of fate. Joyce Hoffman, who is favored to win practically every contest that she competes in, placed a low 3rd with Margo Godfrey, a young, up-and-coming surfer from Santa Barbara, Calif., and doing a tremendous job, placing first. Young Linda Benson, who is now an airline stewardess, from Hermosa Beach, Calif., even managed to beat Joyce Hoffman, coming in 2nd. In case you don’t know, Linda Benson used to be the top woman surfer and has for many years been retired from the surfing scene. She evidently has come back into competition placing a cool second. In 4th place was Janice Domorski, who is always up there in the top spot. Janice, residing in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, is a very competent, agile young lady. In the 5th slot was Liz Herd from Westbury, New York.

So, again the East coasters were doing pretty good. Two of the East coasters got into the finals and managed to place 4th and 5th with the California girls placing first, 2nd, and 3rd. With the way the East coast girls are coming on, who knows, it may not be long before they

start cleaning up on all the competitor).

The Senior Men’s is sometimes a bit of 1 a drag because of the fact that it’s always getting stuck into a spot when the surf- '■> ing isn’t really good, or the waves really aren’t that great. It turned out to be quite exciting with the perennial winner, Bob Holland, placing first. I think this is the first time George Gerlack, from Ocean City, New Jersey, competed in the Virginia Beach placing 2nd above John Hannon from Garden City, New York, who came in 3rd. George came in on his best ride just after the bell had sounded, but Hevs McClelland gave him permission to ride it, and he actually got the best ride of the competition in the Senior Men’s. However, this wasn’t counted, but even so, George Gerlack finished behind Bob Holland in 2nd spot with John Hannon, who is virtually a 1,2,3 place winner, coming in 3rd, and Jim Calleran from Virginia Beach doing a very fine job too, coming in 4th. Then, the wild man of the surfing scene in 5th spot was Jim Ventry from Rhode Island.

There was a special JC (Junior Chamber of Commerce) event with Bob White placing first. Bob, by the way, is a surf board manufacturer and was really carving up the waves pretty good. The past president of the JC who placed 2nd was Webb Brown, with George Desgain following close behind in 3rd spot.

The most exciting and important event of the day was the Men’s finals. To watch some of the outstanding surfers in the nation, all performing in one event, was fantastic. There were Corky Carroll, from Dana Point, Calif., Joe Rolland, from Jacksonville, Fla., Mike Purpus who is a very fine surfer from Manhattan Beach, Calif., and from Cocoa Beach, Fla., was David Boyd. Also that man we have been talking about, Biddy Hunter from St. Augustine. The competition was keen and the rides were extremely outstanding with these guys doing fantastic things. Corky Carroll placed first spot, and Joe Rolland came into an amazing 2nd spot. We had better watch this boy, he might make a pretty big dent in the World Contest. In 3rd place was Mike Purpus and 4th place went to David Boyd, another young man who bears watching. Let us not forget Biddy Hunter, who came in 5th. Looking over the results it’s quite apparent that the East Coast surfers are finally coming into their own. This is especially true of the Men’s division, where three men from Florida alone placed in the first five spots.

1968 Virginia Beach AAAA (East Coast Surfing Championships)

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