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All four of the finalists in the Corona Extra Surf Circuit event which concluded this past Sunday at Domes Beach in Rincon, Puerto Rico were either from Isabela, P.R. or New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Winner of the Men’s title was Brian Toth, 25, of Isabela, who narrowly defeated his mainland opponent, Jeremy Johnston, 24, of New Smyrna. On the Women’s side of the draw, Amy Nicholl, 20, also from New Smyrna Beach, won the title over her local opponent, Lisalie Gonzales, 23.

Both Johnston and Nicholl expressed their pleasure at competing in the warm waters of Puerto Rico while their hometown was enduring an early Spring cold snap over the weekend that saw Florida temperatures dip into the 30’s. As usual the cold weather on the mainland translated into good north swells in Puerto Rico and the Domes event enjoyed some classic, overhead conditions.

“This is some of the best surf we have had at Domes in recent years”, said APSPR President Werner Vega. “The waves were challenging along with a powerful current, so we decided to try a new system for the Corona Extra Circuit.” During the two Finals the safety patrol PWC’s, that normally patrol the surf zone for safety of the bathers, were used to pull the competitors back outside to the peak following their rides. This is a technique that is gaining wide acceptance in pro surfing and was used in Puerto Rico for the first time. “The use of the PWC’s allowed the finalists to conserve their energy for the last hour of the event”, said Vega. “They had more strength left to attack the waves and the spectators got to see many more rides, rather then long periods of paddling. The wave counts for the two finals went up 70% for the Men and 95% for the Women.”

The APSPR has always tried to adopt the latest innovations in pro surfing, including “Man-on-Man” competition with priority, so that their fans are able to watch the “State of the Art” in modern surfing, not only live on the beach, but at home online through the popular “Heats on Demand” feature.

“There was one scary moment when the ski stalled while pulling me outside”, said Johnston, “ But the driver got it started, and everything turned out fine.”

“The drivers, Greg Carson and Thomas Kosmoll were very skilled,” added the winner, Toth, “And that system was a great improvement in demanding conditions like today.”

The Women’s Champion, Amy Nicholl, had to manage an additional challenge, as she endured an exhausting bout with food poisoning that drained her strength. “I got sick Friday night,” she said, “And went 25 hours without any solid food.  I never practiced, and just rested on the beach between my heats.” Fortunately, she had enough strength left to compile scores of 6.0 and 5.9 in Sunday’s Final, to edge out Gonzales by a slender margin of 1.1.

In the Men’s competition Brian Toth continued his domination of the Puerto Rican circuit. Sunday’s final was his third straight APSPR victory going back to the Domes event of 2010. “It feels great to compete here in Puerto Rico, in front of my family, friends and the local spectators,” said Toth. ”I travel and compete around the world for the rest of the year, but there’s no place like home!” The $4,000 he was awarded by Corona Extra will also go a long way to help finance his world travels to represent the Island. Johnston took home $1,800 for his second place. There was a large field of 55 competitors that divided the $10,000 purse.

In the Women’s event, Nicholl received $2,000 for the win and Gonzales $900, as their share of the $5,000 purse, which was divided among 16 competitors.

In addition to the main event prize money, Coppertone Suncare also awarded $500 each to the Men and Women for their prestigious “Best Wave” awards. Brian Toth easily pocketed that extra cash, as he had the four highest wave scores of the entire event, including two identical 8.67 rides in his Round 3 heat on Saturday. Quincy Davis, 15, of Montauk, New York, took the $500 Women’s award for her spectacular 8.67 ride in the Semi-Finals Sunday, when she was narrowly defeated by Gonzales.

However, Liselie Ganzales built her points lead in the year-long Women’s rankings by adding 800 points to her total, after winning the last event of 2010 at Middles. Of course, Brian Toth has raced out to an insurmountable lead in the Men’s rankings, by accumulating another 1000 rating points for his third straight victory.

“The two Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit Champions will be crowned after this year’s final event at Middles,” said Vivianne Vega, APSR Event Manager. “After the success of this event, we expect to see a huge crowd at Middles in November to witness the conclusion of our tenth annual APSPR season.”

Official Results

Open Men’s

1st    Brian Toth  PR

2nd   Jeremy Johnston  US

=3rd  Juan Ashton  PR

=3rd  Tommy Bursian  PR

=5th  Hector Santa María  PR

=5th  Jose Tavárez  PR

=5th  Darren Mushett  PR

=5th  Mark Dawson  US

=9th Joe Suarez  PR

=9th Carlos Cabrero  PR

=9th Alejandro Moreda  PR

=9th Fernando Álvarez  PR

Open Women’s

1st     Amy Nicholl  US

2nd    Liselie Gonzales  PR

=3rd   Cindy Meléndes  PR

=3rd   Quincy Davis  US

=5th   Kelly  Ann Laide  PR

=5th   Idalis “Lilac” Alvarado  PR

=7th   Ninotchka Acevedo  PR

=7th   Maria Del Mar Gonzalez  PR