Allan tops heat to advance

Barbadian surfers found the tough going on the opening day of the World Surf League 5000 Barbados Surf Pro.
Of the six hometown boys to hit the water, only Che Allan advanced to the next round when the event got underway at the Soup Bowl, Bathsheba, today.
On a day that featured windy conditions and average waves mainly between three to four feet, Allen topped Heat 5 to advance to the round of 64.
Allen recorded scores of 6.00 and 6.27 to total 12.27.
Also advancing from the group was USA’s Parker Cohn, who placed second with a score of 10.16 after posting scores of 5.33 and 4.83.
The news wasn’t as good for the other Bajan surfers.
Kai St George finished fourth in Heat 7 with a total score of 6.10, after posting scores of 2.97 and 3.13.
That heat was won by Kai Kushner of the USA who totaled 10.83 points.
Competing in Heat 9, Rafe Gooding also finished fourth with a 5.20 score.
Ocean Gittens didn’t fare any better, as he also placed fourth in Heat 11 after posting a score of 5.90. That heat was won by the USA’s Ryan Huckabee who had the second-highest total of the day of 12.83.
Competing in Heat 13, Warren Povey’s 5.30 score was only good enough for fourth position, while Jason Oliver posted 5.50 competing in Heat 14 to also place fourth.
The performance of the day, however, went to Luke Guinaldo of the USA, who surfed his way to an impressive perfect score of 8.00 on one of his waves, on his way to posting the day’s highest total of 14.17.
Following his outstanding performance, Guinaldo said he was glad he was able to recover after having early nerves.
“I try not to let really anything affect the way I surf. I kind of just like to stay at my own pace and build my fire throughout the whole event so we’re laying down the groundwork and definitely it works obviously, having a key win under my belt, but I’m not really trying to change too much,” he said.
“I was pretty nervous when I messed up my first two turns, my first two waves, it kind of freaked me out a little bit but I knew that I had the ability so I just stayed calm stuck to the plan and it worked out.”
The competition continues tomorrow.
(RB)