Carissa Moore Becomes Youngest Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Event Champion in History!!

Posted on November 25, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized, events |

The 2008 Reef Hawaiian Pro was always going to be about the new guard of women’s surfing from the opening heat of competition. Today, Haleiwa crowned its youngest ever Vans Triple Crown of Surfing event champion in 16-year-old Carissa Moore (Honolulu). Moore won her way through every round of the competition from the preliminary trials heat that awarded one wildcard spot into the event. She now leads the 2008 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series ratings.

Three teenagers and a 36-year-old, 7-time world champion featured in the 30-minute final. Moore won, multiple world champ Layne Beachley (Manly, Australia) was second, 17-year-old Laura Enever (Narrabeen, Australia) was third, and North Shore local Coco Ho, 17, was fourth.

Haleiwa’s Ali’i Beach Park offered up clean and highly contestable 4-5 foot surf for the women’s final day of action, with left-handers the order of the day.

While Moore’s rise to the win came with calm, sure-footedness, there was no shortage of drama around her to help pave the road to victory.

In the final, 17-year-old Coco Ho was at the center of drama. A win here would have guaranteed Ho a start on the 2009 elite World Tour, but after finding herself in fourth for most of the heat, her focus shifted to securing the win for Moore. With less than a minute remaining, Beachley was in need of little more than six points to steal the win from Moore. Ho took off, dropping in on Beachley, popping an air above her head and effectively shutting down Layne’s scoring potential in.

While it will never be known if Layne would have earned the score she needed to win, its indisputable that Moore earned the victory on the merits of her surfing alone.

“It was my dream to one day win out here and I’m really happy,” said Moore.

As the final ASP women’s World Qualifying Series (WQS) event of the year, all eyes will now shift to the next two stops on the Vans Triple Crown to determine the final outcome!

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