World's Best Surfers Storm California Shores for the Hurley Pro, Sept. 12-18

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- All previous allusions of competitive, high-performance surfing are about to be shattered when the world's best surfers descend upon California's premier wave, San Onofre State Beach - Lower Trestles.  The 2010 Hurley Pro is the only ASP World Tour event on mainland U.S. shores and is where the best of the best fight for the world title and prove that surfing is one of the most competitive world sports featuring some of the finest, most talented athletes on the planet.   On September 12, the elite in professional surfing will join the world's most "rippable" wave, armed with a new World Tour seeding format and the most progressive judging criteria in ASP history.  

This is the first event that the ASP World Tour will narrow its field to 32 surfers instead of 44 -- the first major change to the ASP format since 1992. In the current world title race, South African Jordy Smith is leading, but nine-time world champ Kelly Slater is in the hunt for what would be an unprecedented 10th world title. As in years past, the Hurley Pro typically serves as the turning point in the world title race. Win here, and athletes are propelled into the final stretch with tremendous momentum.  Mick Fanning did just that in 2009 when he came from behind to take the Hurley Pro title and then, three months later, his second world title.  The 32 man field will be joined by 4 wildcards (Rob Machado, Kolohe Andino, with 2 spots TBD.)  

All of the dramatic action will be captured with state-of-the-art live webcasts that give surfing fans and all sports enthusiasts a birds-eye view of the competition.  Multiple camera angles and water cams will deliver competition heats along with exclusive behind-the-scenes moments.

San Onofre State Beach - Lower Trestles is California's premier point/reef break and a world-class showcase for high-performance surfing.  If Pipeline is surfing's Gladiator Pit, Lower Trestles is surfing's Center Stage, the spot where the world's best continue to push the limits of what can be done on a wave.

Last Spring at Lower Trestles, the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro was seen as a new milestone in high-performance competitive surfing.  As the athletes return to Lower Trestles for the Hurley Pro, everything is on the line, including world rankings.  Audiences watching live or online are guaranteed a view to the new gold standard in aerials and other game-changing maneuvers.  The Hurley Pro will take place September 12-18 with competition taking place five of the seven days.

Last year's Hurley Pro set a historic record, offering the single largest first place and overall prize purse in ASP World Tour history; $105,000 first place prize and $400,000 overall.  This year's first-place check has yet to be determined.

Press Resources:

www.thehurleypro.com

www.thehurleypro.com/downloads (live in September)

SOURCE Hurley