The Native Hawaiians practiced surfing on large wooden planks shaped from the koa tree. This was first documented by Captain Cook all the way back in 1778 when he arrived on the Hawaiian Islands. This recording of the surfboards has led up to the sport’s biggest stage. 

The US Open of Surfing is an annual surfing competition held in Huntington Beach, California. This year it will take place on July 29 – August 6. It is the largest surfing event in the world. Upwards of 700,000 people will come into this sunny SoCal beach town to watch the world’s best surfers compete against one another in the US Open of Surfing. The event is typically held in the summer. It attracts some of the world’s best surfers to compete in various divisions including women’s and men’s professional surfing, longboarding, and junior surfing.

The US Surf Open has a long history. Over the years, the competition has grown in size and prestige, and it now attracts thousands of spectators and competitors from around the world. The U.S. Open, the West Coast Surfing Championship, was first held in 1959. In 1964 it was known as the United States Surfing Championships. In 1982 it was known as the OP Pro for its sponsor, Ocean Pacific. The event was renamed the U.S. Open of Surfing in 1994.

In addition to the surfing competition, the US Open of Surfing also features a variety of other activities and events, including art, expeditions, concerts, and food and drink vendors. The event is a major cultural and sporting highlight of the year for the city of Huntington Beach and the wider surfing community.

Every year the Surfing Walk of Fame inducts members in the categories of surfing champions, surf culture, surf Pioneers, and woman of the year. With surfing legends. Duke Kahanamoku, Tom Blake, and Kelly Slater are in the surf walk-off fame. Last year’s Brett Simpson, a U.S. open-of-surfing back-to-back champion in 2009 and 2010 was inducted into the Walk of Fame.

The scoring of the surf competition is to reach the highest point total in a field of competitors based on a surfer’s two highest-scoring waves. The surfers are judged on the two highest-scoring waves out of 10 to 15 waves they caught. 

In the past 7 years, there have been 14 winners. They are listening to the most recent to 2015 winners.  

2022:

Men’s: Ezekiel Lau (Hawaii)

Women’s: Joao Chianca (Brazil)

2021:

Men’s: Kanoa Igarashi (Japan)

Women’s: Courtney Conlogue (USA)

2019:

Men’s: Kanoa Igarashi (Japan)

Women’s: Sage Erickson (USA)

2018:

Men’s: Kanoa Igarashi (Japan)

Women’s: Courtney Conlogue (USA)

2017:

Men’s: Kanoa Igarashi (Japan)

Women’s: Sage Erickson (USA)

2016:

Men’s: Filipe Toledo (Brazil)

Women’s: Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil)

2015:

Men’s: Filipe Toledo (Brazil)

Women’s: Johanne Defay (France)