BRETT SIMPSON WINS US OPEN OF SURFING

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (Sunday, July 26, 2009) – Brett Simpson (Huntington Beach, CA), 24, has claimed the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing over former ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (Coolangatta, AUS), 28, in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd, netting surfing’s biggest victory purse ever – US$100,000.

An event that will go down in surfing history, the 2009 Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing was treated to incredible surf (waves reaching as high as ten-to-twelve feet), an unprecedented number of elite ASP Dream Tour competitors in attendance as well as the biggest winner’s prize in surfing history. The young local’s emphatic victory in front of the hundreds of thousands on the beach provided the storybook ending and vaulted the event to unprecedented heights.

Simpson wasted no time in putting his opponent on the ropes in the Final, collecting a 6.83, a 7.83 and a 9.10 in the opening half of the heat with razor-sharp turns, explosive aerial maneuvers and a supernatural rapport with the Huntington Beach sandbanks.

“I knew the tide was coming up and there weren’t going to be as many waves,” Simpson said. “I knew I needed a quick start. We (Mick Fanning and I) both got off to pretty quick starts. We both picked up some good scores off the bat and I was able to build a little momentum throughout my opening waves. I couldn’t believe it when the heat finished – I’m still at a loss. I can’t ask for more than to beat Mick Fanning in the Final at home. With that, and the $100,000 and the 2,500 ’QS points, I’m nearly in tears at the moment.”

Each one of Simpson’s maneuvers was met with a thunder of cheers from the hundreds of thousands of spectators on the beach, and the young Californian’s win was caused an unparalleled eruption of excitement to ripple through the Hurley U.S. Open event site.

“When you’re riding on the ski in front of the crowd and you hear the applause it definitely pumps you up,” Simpson said. “Every time I was feeling a bit tired, the energy level of the crowd would lift me right up. It’s unbelievable to have all the support and my family and friends here with me. This is the best day of my life.”

In addition to taking away professional surfing’s biggest first prize in history (US$100,000), Simpson earned 2,500 ASP WQS points solidifying his campaign in the qualification race for the 2010 ASP Dream Tour. The progressive natural-footer is in excellent position for a berth next season at professional surfing’s most elite level, the ASP World Tour.

“I don’t know what to say,” Simpson said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m just stoked. It’s my best result ever. It’s so important to my qualifying campaign and such a huge boost of confidence to me. My goal has always been to compete on the World Tour and I’m definitely focused on finishing the season strong. I don’t know what else to say. I’m really excited and I can’t wait for the rest of the year.”

Fanning was in phenomenal form this morning, eliminating two fellow ASP World Tour campaigners en route to his Finals berth, but the current ASP World No. 7 was unable to navigate the decreasing afternoon conditions. Despite missing out on the US$100,000 first prize, the Australian exhibited true sportsmanship, congratulating Simpson as well as the event.

“It’s been an amazing week for me,” Fanning said. “I haven’t been here for seven years and to come back into an event like this is just amazing. The setup, the crowd, the waves, it’s all been a dream. Congratulations to Brett (Simpson), he’s a true champion and we look forward to seeing him next year on tour.”

Adriano de Souza (Sao Paulo, BRA), 22, former ASP World Junior Champion (2004) and current ASP World No. 3, caused the upset of the event this morning, defeating nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, FL), 37, in Quarterfinal 3. Despite the impressive feat, the young Brazilian was unable to overcome a rampaging Fanning in the Semifinals.

“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t find the waves against Mick (Fanning),” De Souza said. “It’s still a great event – so many people and good waves, sunny. Obviously, my highlight was beating Kelly (Slater) this morning. There weren’t many waves in that heat, but I was able to get on the better ones and surf pretty well. Kelly can

C.J. Hobgood (Melbourne Beach, FL), 30, current No. 2 on the elite ASP World Tour ratings, was another ASP Dream Tour campaigner to shine at Huntington Beach. A consistent high-scorer throughout the rounds, Hobgood came up short to eventual winner Simpson in the Semifinals.

“I’m so stoked it all came together for this event,” Hobgood said. “All the people and the waves were great. I’m bummed I missed out on the Final, but I had a great week so I’m happy I came here.”

Patrick Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), 23, who narrowly missed out on qualification for this season’s elite ASP Dream Tour, was another strong Southern California performer at the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing, finishing equal 5th, further solidifying his position within the Top 10 on the ASP WQS ratings.

The next stop for the men on the 2009 ASP WQS will be the ASP WQS 5-Star Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans from August 4 – 9, 2009 in Newquay, England.

Running in conjunction with the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing was the ASP Grade-2 Nike 6.0 Pro Junior, Stop No. 5 of 9 on the 2009 ASP North America Pro Junior Series. Today’s Final was an incredible assemblage of global talent, with Kai Barger (HAW), 19, taking the big win over Tonino Benson (HAW), 19, Dillon Perillo (Malibu, CA), 19, and Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 18.

Barger, reigning ASP World Junior Champion, went on an absolute rampage in the star-studded junior Final, smashing both rights and lefts to net an impressive 15.50 out of a possible 20.

“This is hands down the best contest ever,” Barger said. “Biggest crowd, great waves, lots of sun, big money. Best event ever. I don’t really go out into heats thinking about what I need or what I want to accomplish. I go out to win. That’s what I did out there today and I’m having a great year!”

Highlights from the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing are available at www.usopenofsurfing.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com and www.aspnorthamerica.org


Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing Results: ASP WQS 6-Star Men’s Event

Final: Winner Receives US$100,000
1 – Brett Simpson (USA) 16.93
2 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.50

Semifinals: 4 surfers remaining (winner advances)
SF 1: Brett Simpson (USA) 13.00 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 8.90
SF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.07 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.47

Quarterfinals: 8 surfers remaining (winner advances)
QF 1: Brett Simpson (USA) 13.50 def. Nathaniel Curran (USA) 10.27
QF 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.76 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.77
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.10 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 10.00
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.27 def. Michel Bourez (USA) 12.40

Nike 6.0 Pro Junior Results: ASP Grade-2 Pro Junior
1 – Kai Barger (HAW) 15.50
2 – Tonino Benson (HAW) 14.30
3 – Dillon Perillo (USA) 12.53
4 – Nat Young (USA) 9.53

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SIMPLY SIMPO EPISODE 4- TRAINING DAY

Simply Simpo - Episode 4 from LIEBER VISION on Vimeo.

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Simpson Jumps to Second on ASP WQS After 6-Star PRIME

The first Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star PRIME event of the 2009 season saw HSS Team Rider Brett Simpson (Huntington Beach, California), 24, lead the American charge in Western Australia, finishing in a respectable ninth place at the Drug Aware Pro in Margaret River. Simpson's result bumps him up to second overall on the ASP WQS.

All surfers competing on the ASP WQS are looking to earn points towards qualification for the prestigious ASP Dream Tour, with 15 of the series' finest earning their chance at an ASP World Title the following year. The Drug Aware Pro is an ASP 6-Star PRIME event, which offers the most points towards each surfers ASP WQS rating. The significant ratings points drew the world's best up-and-coming talent to Australia's shore for a chance to get a good start to their 2009 campaign.

Simpson earned a ninth place finish at last week's O'Neill Cold Water Classic event, an ASP WQS 6-Star contest held in Tasmania, and stayed consistent again this week when he matched his performance at the ASP 6-Star PRIME contest and the back-to-back performance displayed by the young Huntington Beach native sets him in second place overall on The Grind.

The talented regular-footer ousted several top international surfers on the way to his solid finish, including former ASP World Tour competitors Travis Logie (Durban, ZAF), 30, and Leonardo Neves (Saquarema, BRA), 29.

Other top American performers at the premier event were San Clemente natives Nathan Yeomans (San Clemente, CA), 27, and Dane Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), 23. Both surfers earned 17th place results.

The next event on the ASP WQS calendar will be the ASP WQS 4-Star Protest Vendee Pro in France from April 6-12, 2009.

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org
Follow Brett's quest for the Dream Tour this year at http://www.simplysimpo.com/

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Simply Simpo - Episode 3!

Simply Simpo - Episode 3 from LIEBER VISION on Vimeo.

Check out the Simply Simpo site for all of Brett's fun!
GO BRETT!

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Brett Simpson gets top score of the day at Haleiwa

Haleiwa, Oahu, HI - (Fri. Nov. 14, 2008) - Huntington Beach surfer Brett Simpson, 23, notched up another memorable day at Haleiwa today, posting the highest wave score of the Reef Hawaiian Pro to date: 9.93 out of a possible 10, during round three. Simpson, 23, won his four-man heat ahead of three of the North Shore's best surfers, including current world No.11 Fred Patacchia. The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the first jewel of the prestigious $815,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

Haleiwa was reeling off right-hand perfection today that Simpson compared to Lower Trestles, only more powerful. He has tasted success here before, reaching the final of this event back in 2006; the same year he received the NoseGuard Vans Triple Crown Rookie of the Year Award.

"This is one of my better events and the waves are super good and fit my surfing," said Simpson. "It's pretty high performance. It's just like surfing Lowers just a little bit more powerful.

"When you get a score like that, even if you get a 5-something you're still in the 14 total and that means guys need two 7's, which is totally possible when the waves are this amazing.

"There are really good waves out there and it's just a matter of getting them. Hopefully I'll keep starting off with a little bang. I got one of the better ones and you can't really ask for more."

San Clemente's Mike Losness also advanced through round three today.

The star of yesterday's opening day of competition, Mark Occhilupo (Australia), was eliminated in round three today by fellow Australian Daniel Ross (Angourie), and long-time tour rival Sunny Garcia (Hawaii).

Ross, 25, was on fire in the peeling rights and Garcia was laying down his trademark Haleiwa power gouge, but Occhilupo was unable to achieve the same degree of verticality and power on his backhand in the head-high surf.

The final scoreline showed Ross' two-wave total at 15.67 out of 20; Garcia with 14.9; Brazil's William Cardoso with 8.56; and Occhilupo with just one wave: a 4.17 point ride.

"It's nice surfing against both those guys," said Ross. "Sunny and Occ are such good surfers over here. To get a heat win felt really good. I've got so much respect for those guys. They're such good surfers over here and I've followed them for years. And, a lot of surfers that are in this contest competing have seen them in videos or watched them live. That's why surfing is where it is today because of Sunny and Occ. It's a trip to be competing against them.

"I've been coming here for 15 years now and I always like surfing in the big and powerful stuff. A combination of that, training and good boards, I've been working on that for years in Hawaii. I just want to keep progressing.

"I bombed out early in this contest last year. It was pretty disappointing and I needed a good result in the end at Sunset. Hopefully, I can get a good [result] here and back it up again with Sunset would be even better."

Hawaii's Hank Gaskell cranked out the highest heat score of the event: 18.8 points against Hugo Savalli (Reunion), Corey Ziems (Australia), and Brad Ettinger (Huntington Beach, CA) in his round two clash this-morning. Hank's third round heat will take to the water on the next day of men's competition.

Other strong heat wins were posted today by Jarrad Howse (Australia), Joel Centeio (Hawaii), and Jay Thompson (Australia).

Competition concluded just prior to the end of the third round today. Organizers expect to resume at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning with the first rounds of the women's Reef Hawaiian Pro. To examine surf updates for the coming days, visit official forecasters Wetsand.com.

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