San Clemente Ocean Festival Shines on 40th Anniversary

Results from an action-packed weekend by the Pier

Photos by Eric Heinz, Text by Steve Breazeale

An estimated 56,000 people were treated to great weather and exciting action at the 40th installment of the San Clemente Ocean Festival, July 16-17.

As opposed to last year’s Ocean Fest, where spotty weather and lightning dampened spirits, this year’s version of the iconic San Clemente event featured plenty of sunshine and good water conditions for the lifeguards and athletes competing.

The event kicked off with lifeguard contests on July 16 at the Pier, and concluded with the popular Great Rubber Duck Contest on July 17, in which thousands of numbered toys “raced” through the surf in an attempt to wash up the beach first. Surf, stand-up paddleboard, fishing, sand sculpting and Ironman events filled up the days, as locals and tourists wandered the beach taking it all in.

There were several standout events this year, according to Ocean Festival race director Barrett Tester, but one of the highlights of the weekend took place during the Dory Boat races. For the first time in Ocean Fest history, a team of women competed in the field. The Huntington Beach duo of Madison Feldman and Renae Jackson participated in the event, taking seventh overall in the Race 1 and sixth overall in Race

Ideal conditions also led to one of the most exciting Grom’s Rule surf contests Tester has seen.

“The groms were awesome. The conditions were really good for that because the surf wasn’t too big or chaotic and I think it was one of the best ones ever,” Tester said. “San Clemente is a hot bed for youth surfing and we saw that out there.”

Here are the Ocean Festival contest results

Included are the top-3 finishers in each event’s respective divisions.

Surf Race

Men

1. Hayden Hemmens
2. Kevin Fink
3. Zachary Wallace

Women

1. Audrey Neilan
2. Bella Siering
3. Coral Kerno

Rescue Relay

Men

1. Kevin Fink and Hayden Hemmens
2. Parker Seale and Dominick Wallace
3. Ben Brewer and Benjamin Trun

Women

1. Bella Siering and Holly Maine
2. Emily Neilan and Sage Pfeiffer
3. Lani Merrill and Emmy Merrill

Co-ed

1. Audrey Neilan and James Bray
2. Sina Riahi and Raselle Chetwynd
3. Brian Murphy and Brianna Erickson

Surfski

Men

1. Tim Burdiak
2. Brian Murphy
3. Shane Scoggins

Women

1. Shannon Snell
2. Christina Boring
3. Neilan Audrey

Dory Boat Race 1

Men

1. James Bray and Dane DeBoer
2. Jose Dolwar and Dick DeBoer
3. Austin Trinkle and Jack Blake

Women

1. Madison Feldman and Renae Jackson

Dory Boat Race 2

Men

1. Austin Trinkle and Jack Blake
2. James Bray and Dane DeBoer
3. Jose Dolwar and Dick DeBoer

Women

1. Madison Feldman and Renae Jackson

Paddle Rescue Relay

Men

1. Kevin Fink and Brian Murphy
2. Ben Brewer and Hayden Hemmens
3. Patrick Jacobson and Tyler Morgan

Women

1. Julia Garcia and Sage Pfeiffer
2. Audrey Neilan and Christina Boring
3. Coral Kemo and Emily Neilan

Paddle Sprints Day 1

Men

1. Shane Scoggins
2. Brian Murphy
3. James Bray

Women

1. Holly Maine
2. Candice Appleby
3. Coral Kemo

Paddle Sprints Day 2

Men’s 14’ Open

1. Yann Lavletta
2. Rob Rojas

2-18 Men

1. Haakon Hoyer-Nielsen
2. Patrick Cleveland
3. Tyler Bashor

2-18 Women

1. Shae Foudy
2. Lexi Alston
3. Izzi Gomez

19-39 Men

1. Giorgio Gomez
2. Manuel Rodriguez-Ligonio
3. Jedd Hasay

40-49 Men

1. Dave Boehne
2. Chance Fielder
3. Anthony Vela

50+ Men

1. Karl Ring

American Ironman

Men

1. James Bray
2. Mel Solberg
3. Austin Trinkle

Women

1. Bella Siering
2. Christina Boring
3. Kemo Coral

5K Run

1-14 Girls

1. Emilie Heckenkamp
2. Quinn Loper

1-14 Boys

1. Elijah Sech
2. Patrick Riley
3. Declan Murray

15-19 Women

1. Amy Vollebregt
2. Cortni Chantry
3. Tatuni DeGoey

15-19 Men

1. Andrew Goldsmith
2. Alex Boving
3. Tommy Gallagher

20-29 Women

1. Rachel Frantz
2. Jennifer Elliott
3. Clarisse Naegels

20-29 Men

1. Matthew Parker
2. Chris Herber
3. Landan Brown

30-39 Women

1. Meredith Nikkel
2. Katie Smith
3. Kristen Racine

30-39 Men

1. Isaiah Grant
2. Cory Fowler
3. Scott Potter

40-49 Women

1. Simone Gomes
2. Nicole Kersting
3. Elly Harris

40-49 Men

1. Marac Gerdean
2. Kenneth Martin
3. Edward Garcia

50-59 Women

1. Denise Hertsch
2. Jeanne Trimm
3. Dina Flores

50-59 Men

1. Brad Derthick
2. Steven Strong
3. Victor Flores

60-69 Women

1. Pamela Wusthof
2. Cyndi Mosk
3. Karla Katz

60-69 Men

1. Kim McDonald
2. Larry Moore
3. Stan Gertler

70-99 Men

1. Jon Malnekoff

Biathlon

1-14 Boys

1. Declan Cooper
2. Wyatt Merchant

1-14 Girls

1. Sydney Brouwer

15-19 Men

1. Kyle Rovira
2. Kian Brouwer

15-19 Women

1. Emma Cooper
2. Shannon Derthick
3. Megan Quintilone

20-29 Men

1. Ryan Makuta
2. Sina Riahi
3. Elliot Bilsland

20-29 Women

1. Sarah Burris
2. Danielle Wong
3. Sage Pfeiffer

30-39 Men

1. Chris Dollar
2. Charles Wong
3. Jeff Kennedy

30-39 Women

1. Sara Kennedy
2. Allison Hilgers
3. Nancy Dollar-Wood

40-49 Men

1. Jason Ekinaka
2. Sean Morrison
3. Scott Cooper

40-49 Women

1. Yvonne Hall
2. Vicki Reale
3. Lisa McLaughlin

50-59 Men

1. Rick Schumacher
2. Eric Anderson
3. John Clinkinbeard

50-59 Women

1. Karen Connolly
2. Valerie Ells
3. Linda Hague

60-69 Men

1. Kim McDonald
2. Mike Dollar
3. Stan Gertler

10K Paddle

Prone Stock 19-39 Men

1. Christopher Meinhold
2. Dane Gudauskas
3. Tanner Gudauskas

Prone Stock 19-39 Women

1. Christina Boring

Prone UL 19-39 Men

1. Chris Sears

Prone UL 50+ Men

1. Wes Stone
2. Bob Feinberg

Prone Stock 50+ Men

1. James Brown

SUP 12’6” 18U Men

1. Nick Scheel
2. Tyler Bashor
3. Haakon Hoyer-Nielsen

SUP 12’6” 18U Women

1. Shae Foudy
2. Lexi Alston
3. Erika Benitez

SUP 12’6” 19-39 Men

1. Giorgio Gomez
2. Manuel Rodriguez-Ligonio
3. John Gabriel

SUP 12’6” 19-39 Women

1. Candice Appleby

SUP 12’6” 40-49 Men

1. Anthony Vela
2. Mick Vollmer

SUP 12’6” 50+ Women

1. Kristin Thomas

SUP 14’ 19-39 Men

1. Daniel Russell
2. Jedd Hasay
3. Yann Lavletta

SUP 14’ 40-49 Men

1. Chance Fielder
2. David Meyler
3. Rob Rojas

SUP 14’ 50+ Men

1. Byron Kurt
2. Rich D’Souza
3. John Bouvland

SUP Surfboard 50+ Men

1. Larry Moore

Surfski 19-39 Women

1. Sara Kennedy

One-Mile Ocean Swim

1-14 Boys

1. Timo Paisley
2. Wyatt Miller
3. Jonas Hawbecker

1-14 Girls

1. Stella Copeland
2. Anna Dillbeck
3. Sydney Brouwer

15-19 Men

1. Kian Brouwer
2. Carson Williams
3. Tommy Elliot

15-19 Women

1. Jessica Lambert
2. Kirsta Krontz
3. Shannon Derthick

20-29 Men

1. Spenser Goodman
2. Ryan Makuta
3. Christopher Meinhold

20-29 Women

1. Danielle Wong
2. Sage Pfeiffer
3. Brittany Vocke

30-39 Men

1. Ryan Bullock
2. Ethan Senturia
3. Jeff Kennedy

30-39 Women

1. Scotti Shafer
2. Allison Hilgers
3. Laura Spears

40-49 Men

1. Rob Rojas
2. Jason Ekinaka
3. Anthony Vela

40-49 Women

1. Mikel Glavinovich
2. Barbara Lastelic
3. Tiffany Scanlon

50-59 Men

1. Dean Nicolls
2. Rick Schumacher
3. Bryan Buck

50-59 Women

1. Barbara Goodwin
2. Ann Finley
3. Linda Simons

60-69 Men

1. Dan Leonard
2. Greg Mortimer
3. Duff Murphy

70-99 Men

1. Mike Freshley
2. Dennis Holderman

Run-Swim-Run

1-14 Girls

1. Savannah Mellott
2. Alex Higginson
3. Sydney Brouwer

1-14 Boys

1. Jonas Hawbecker
2. Wyatt Merchant
3. Calum Connolly-Lindermann

15-19 Women

1. Megan Quintilone

15-19 Men

1. Kian Brouwer
2. Chad Biggs
3. Jeffrey Igarashi

20-29 Women

1. Karina Vint
2. Kailey Makuta
3. Nikki Spurgeon

20-29 Men

1. Ryan Makuta
2. Toby Contarsy
3. Bobby K

30-39 Men

1. Ryan Bullock

40-49 Women

1. Yvonne Hall
2. Paige Kobayaski
3. Lisa McLaughlin

40-49 Men

1. Anthony Vela
2. Kevin Shinnick
3. Mike Chang

50-59 Women

1. Ann Finley 2.Linda Simons
2. Nancie Rodriguez

50-59 Men

1. David Bidwell
2. Chris Cosner
3. Gaylord Shilling

60+ Men

1. Duff Murphy
2. Dennis Holderman

 

SUP Surfing Championships

Men’s 39U

1. Giorgio Gomez
2. Anthony Maltese
3. Jedd Hasay

Men’s 40+

1. Dave Boehne
2. Drew Brophy
3. Byron Kurt

Women’s Open

1. Izzi Gomez
2. Shae Foudy
3. Candice Appleby

Grom’s Rule Surf Contest

Boys 10U

1. Alex Guild
2. Jett Rockets Prefontaine
3. Azure Trujillo

Girls 12U

1. Sawyer Lindblad
2. Carolyn Sachse
3. Resse Hartnett

Boys 11-14

1. Hagan Johnson
2. Myles Biggs
3. Noah Brown

Fishing Derby

12U

Kai Long (11” Bonito); Kate Schlueter (5 1/2” Perch)

13+ Game Fish

Ellie Bosse (15” Croaker); Nate Iwakoshi (14 1/4” Corbina)

Shark/Bat Ray
Henry Long (8” Stingray)

Sand Sculpting

Castles and Things

1. Arizona Sand Blast (Jungle Beach)
2. Sand & Deliver (Cracking Under Pressure)
3. Maher Family (Pokémon Mountain)

Creatures

1. Julio Pagan & Crew (The Kraken)
2. Dory Finds San Clemente
3. Three engineers, an archeologist and salesman (The Nautilus)

Open

1. Nevada Sand Company (Mount Rushmore)
2. Love Power Company-Katherine Clark (Wave of Love)
3. Cove Guides (World Peace)

Family

1. Alessandro Sand Sculptures (Main Squeeze)
2. Nagel family (Blue Lives Matter)
3. Allesandro-Kids (Gotta Catch ‘em All)