Team USA needed a big day out of their lineup on Sunday, as they march toward what they hope will be an Olympic earning berth in the 2024 Paris Games.
They got exactly what they had hoped for.
Kolohe Andino and Nat Young took to the water in the first few heats of the morning and delivered big time performances, to set the stage.
Andino started the day in the opening heat in an auspicious way.
His board broke on the first wave, and he had to scramble for a replacement while his competitors surfed on. Once he got the new board, he put up wave scores of 6.93 and 6.67 for a winning heat total of 13.60.
'I'm stoked I won the heat," Andino said. "It's a long event so as many heats as you can make, is good."
Andino now advances to round three, helping to keep the team title hopes alive for team USA.
Moments later, Santa Cruz native Nat Young took his turn. After having a slow first half of the heat, he caught his first wave with just 8 minutes left.
His wave total of 4.70 put him in striking distance of the top two advancing places, but the waves weren't aplenty, and time was ticking away.
'There isn't much you can do when the water gets that flat," Young said of the lack of activity. " Jadson (Andre, the heat winner) got one, but I wasn't near it."
Then, with time running out, Young got his chance, catching a wave as the final seconds ticked off the clock. He rode it all the way in, hitting two sharp turns as he hit the shore break.
Now the wait was on the to see if he got the 4.88 he needed.
The announcement brought a cheer from the USA contingent as the score 6.67 was announced.
"I knew i had got a high enough score because i needed a four something and that one was better than my first wave," Young added.
Starting off the day presented a pressure for both surfers, needing to give USA a boost.
"There wasn't any pressure based on anyone else's performance, it's a team event so it's a different kind of pressure," Young said. " A lot of other people are counting on you to do well."
Rounding out the sweep of the day for USA was Griffin Colapinto, who shook off a disappointing loss yesterday with the top performance of the day.
Colapinto put up high day scores of 9.33 and 17.00 to easily move into round 3 of the repechage.
THE IGARASHI EXPRESS ROLLS ON
Following up his high scores of the day yesterday, Huntington's Kanoa Igarashi came back this morning in his round two event and again demonstrated the skills that has him one of the top surfers in the world.
His scores of 7.47 and 6.43 was good for a 14.10 heat winning total.
Igrashi now goes into round three as he continues his quest toward a second straight Olympic appearance.
In his 4 scoring waves of the event, Igarashi has a scoring average of 7.74
YOUTH IS SERVED
The youngest surfer in the event, 13-year-old Kahlil Pineres Schooley, surfing out of Colombia
wowed spectators on opening day by advancing through the first round of his heat. Unfortunately, he failed to make it out on Sunday's action.
Huntington Beach is a hot spot for the young surfer, who currently lives in Hawaii. He came here in June and won the Rip Curl Grom Search 12-and-under division and is currently awaiting the finals in December at the Kelly Slater Wave Ranch.
LOCALS ADVANCE
Local stars Eeli Timperi and Wheeler Hasburgh each lost their first-round heat on Sunday but both advanced through their first repechage heat and are still alive going into day three,
On Monday the women take center stage as they compete for the first time in the event. The schedule was set that way so it wouldn't interfere with the Nissan Super Girl Pro event at Oceanside.