Day three of the ISA World Games saw the ladies hit the water for the first time. By all appearances, the USA women were ready for the challenge.
A day after the men went 3-0 on Sunday the trio of Gabriela Bryan, Zoe McDougall and Kirra Pinkerton all put up impressive first round heats.
Bryan started her heat out to the south side of the rest of the field, but after catching a wave, she moved more north and that helped her take a big lead.
She caught a nice swell and rode the big wave to a 9.00 score. Not only did it set her up for the heat but was the highest of the day for all competitors.
"I just wanted to test out the waves, there were some that were moving down south, and I didn't have to battle anyone for them," Bryan said of her strategy.
"Then I moved over and happy that wave came when I was there.
"I felt super comfortable out there. I've been competing at Huntington a long time growing up all my amateur. Home turf advantage for sure."
She finished her heat with a 6.93 back up score and 15.93 heat total (third best on the day). Later in the day she sailed through round two, with an 11.04 heat (6.27 high wave score)
Zoe McDougall was up next for the red, white and blue and promptly
delivered a 7.27 heat total, good enough to move into the second round.
In her second-round match though, McDougall ran into a tough heat and could only manage third putting her in the repechage later this week.
Finally, Kirra Pinkerton rounded out the teams' day with a pair of wins. First, she took care of business in round one with a 16.00 on wave totals of 8.67 and 7.33. In round two, she was able to battle the conditions and snag second place with a 7.90 heat total, enough to out her into round three.
"It was really tough out there, " Pinkerton said. ' When I first paddled out, I was like it's not too bad then you catch a wave in the center and get swept right down the beach. But I got my adrenaline up, caught a few waves and set myself for the rest of the event so I'm stoked."
Pinkerton likes the vibe the USA has going on right now.
"I'm super stoked, we are all doing really good, everyone is still alive and cheering each other on. It's been a good day."
BROOKS STAMPS HERSELF AS CONTENDER
Hawaii's Erin Brooks, surfing out of Canada, showed the world she is a force to deal with in the event with two dominating performances.
The 15-year-old, who has surfed many events at Huntington Beach in the past, took heat one with scores of 8.33 and 5.67 and then backed that up with a win in round two. Her totals there of 7.27 and 6.83 was good for a 14.10 mark.
On Tuesday, the men compete in rounds 3 and 4 and the women run round 3 and begin the repechage heats.