Viva Peru: Sofia Mulanovich wins Movistar Peru Classic

Congratulations Sofia !

Peruvian surfer Sofia Mulanovich has won the Movistar Peru Classic presented by Rip Curl over reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion and two-time defending event winner, Stephanie Gilmore from Australia.

Event No. 5 of 7 on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour, the Movistar Peru Classic culminated in offshore three-to-four foot  waves at Lobitos today, and delivered all the drama and action fans had been waiting for.

Mulanovich, who suffered a horrific wipeout yesterday, was a standout in the hard-fought Final, muscling through one section after another on her backhand, to post an impressive 15.00 out of a possible 20. While the lead would seesaw back and forth between the Peruvian and the Aussie  it was ultimately Mulanovich who would come away with the win in front of a raucous crowd on the sand.

“It doesn’t even feel real that this is happening right now,” Mulanovich said. “I have wanted to win this event for so long, and have always been disappointed. To do it here, in front of my friends and family and in good waves at Lobitos is a dream come true. Viva Peru!”

The win boosts the former ASP Women’s World Champion (2004) from fourth to third on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour ratings and puts her within striking distance of the crown heading into the business end of the season.

“I haven’t had the best season and I was really waiting for a breakout result,” Mulanovich said. “To finally get it at home is really special. I am just so stoked.”

Gilmore’s Runner-Up finish today marks her third of the season, and while missing out on making it three-in-a-row in Peru, the Australian is still pleased with her performance.

“Definitely been pretty consistent with making Finals,” Gilmore said. “Obviously I was looking for another win. But in a way, it is pretty special to see Sofia (Mulanovich) win, like, it is crazy. There are thousands of people on the beach here in the middle of nowhere, it is just phenomenal. To make another Final felt good. I had a lot of fun. It was good to see Sofia up there and not Silvana (Lima) or Coco (Ho), it is going to make the ratings really interesting and it’s keeping things really tight and close between everyone. It is going to be an exciting finish in Hawaii.”

Gilmore retains a slender lead over challengers as she contests for a third, consecutive ASP Women’s World Title, but retains collected frame of mind heading into Hawaii.

“The world title is in your head sometimes,” Gilmore said. “It is just event by event. This event was a good one as everyone was surfing so good and so after a fifth in Portugal, I wanted to come here and perform really well and I put my mind to it and I did it, the title race is hot.”

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 18, 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie, matched her best result of the year with an equal 3rd at the Movistar Peru Classic. Arguably one of the most in-tune performers at Lobitos, Fitzgibbons lost a nail-biter Semifinal to eventual winner Mulanovich.

“I’m definitely happy with my performance,” Fitzgibbons said. “I have felt good this whole event and it came down really close there at the end. I knew that set was on the horizon and I couldn’t hold on in the end. It would be amazing to make it through to a Final. I will take the third place but it is always nice to be there on the podium and in the Final. I will just keep trying and doing what I am doing and hopefully crack it pretty soon.”

Coco Ho (HAW), 18, 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour rookie and winner of the previous event in Portugal, was a major standout at the Movistar Peru Classic. Ho took down fellow Hawaiian rookie Alana Blanchard (HAW), 19, and stylish natural-footer Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), 22, before falling agonizingly close to Gilmore in the Semifinals.

“It’s always hard having a 9 and waiting for your second score but that’s what surfing with the Champ is all about,” Ho said. “It was frustrating seeing the waves I needed coming in after the heat, but that’s okay. Competing against Steph definitely pushes my surfing and I’m happy with an Equal 3rd.”

Despite missing out on a Final’s berth in Peru, Ho is looking forward to finishing the year at home in Hawaii and the finale of the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour Rookie of the Year race.

“I’m definitely looking forward to heading home and finishing the season in Hawaii,” Ho said. “Rookie of the Year and a Top 5 finish has always been my goal, but Sally (Fitzgibbons) is right there and it will come down to the wire.”The next stop on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour is the Gidget Pro at Sunset Beach, Hawaii from November 24 through December 6, 2009.

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 15.00
2 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.74

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.60 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 15.17
SF 2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 16.27 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.20

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.74 def. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 10.16
QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 9.27 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 6.60
QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.16 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 6.83
QF 4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.67 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 10.17

Check the Full Results

ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After Movistar Peru Classic):
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 4765 pts
2 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 4188 pts
3 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 3891 pts
4 – Coco Ho (HAW) 3679 pts
5 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 3043 pts

Check the Full Ratings

Hawaiian Coco Ho wins Women’s Rip Curl Pro Search

ASP World Tour rookie, Coco Ho has beaten Chelsea Hedges to claim the 2009 Rip Curl Women’s Pro Search title.

It was only a matter of time till Hawaiian Coco Ho would win an ASP Women’s World Tour event. Not only does the girl flat out rip, but she’s also got the mental game that great competitive surfers need to possess—she knows what she has to do to win heats and then does them.

In the first ever Rip Curl Women’s Pro Search event, Coco bettered Chelsea Hedges, who is eight years her elder and the 2005 Women’s World Champ. Comboing the veteran to snag the win, Coco showed that she has what it takes to win on the women’s highest stage. Now sitting at 3rd in the World Title ratings, Coco is making a serious run for Rookie of the Year, not to mention being in the thick of a World Title race.

Stephanie Gilmore and Silvana Lima (1,2) sit ahead of Ho in the ratings, and with three events left it’s plausible to see any one of the three march to the podium at the end of the year. After the next event (the Movistar Peru Classic), the Women’s World Tour heads to Hawaii for the final two events. Don’t be surprised to see the young Hawaiian with another trophy in her hand before the year is done.

CURRENT ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR TOP 5
(After RC Pro Women’s Search):
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 3793 points
2 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 3636 points
3 – Coco Ho (HAW) 2923 points
4 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 2691 points
5 – Melanie Bartels (HAW) 2535 points

Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story

“Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story,” is a one- hour documentary, (world premiere October 8, 2006, at the Malibu Celebration of Film festival) narrated by Jorja Fox (“CSI”) and produced by Brian L. Gillogly and Master Communication.

The project explores the largely untold story of the real “Gidget,” Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, and how her account of surfing Malibu in the mid-50’s became the basis for a best-selling novel by her father Frederick Kohner. Read more

Gidget Turns Fifty

The popular Gidget TV series (starring Sally Field) was a sequel to a movie (Gidget Goes to Rome) that was a sequel to two or three other movies, all the way back to the first Gidget, a wacky movie starring Sandra Dee.

The first film was itself an adaptation of a novel, Gidget, The Little Girl With the Big Ideas. Written by Frederick Kohner fifty years ago, it was based on the real surf adventures of Kohner’s teenage daughter in Malibu the summer of 1956.

Okay, if you followed that you might know that Gidget is a nickname that combines girl and midget.Writing in the first person and invoking surf slang still used on the beach today, Kohner wrote of the summer that Gidget turned sixteen and learned to surf. “I’m writing it down,” the book begins, “because I once heard that when you’re getting older you’re liable to forget things and I’d sure be the most miserable woman in this world if I ever forgot what happened this summer.”

This often-told tale has lured countless wanderers to the shores of Southern California, at the same time angering hard-core surfers who blame Gidget for exposing the private subculture to the American mainstream.

The original surfer girl is Kathy Kohner Zuckerman. Now a 65 year old grandmother still living in California, the surfing icon was a reluctant hero for many years. Riding a wave of nostalgia, Zuckerman has recently embraced her place in history, and gained repect as a surfing pioneer who helped break surfing’s gender barrier.

If you haven’t already read the book or seen the early films, grab a bucket of popcorn and meet “Gidget.”

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