Hareb to feature in first world teams event
Surfing
It’s safe to say that a decade ago, Paige Hareb would never have expected she’d travel to inland California in search of the perfect wave.
But that wild idea becomes reality for the New Zealand surfer today — and she won’t be alone.
Hareb will compete in the inaugural Founders’ Cup event at the Surf Ranch in Lemoore.
The ground-breaking competition gets under way at 9am (NZT), and will see surfers from around the world team up for the first time in World Surf League history and look to make the most of a perfect wave that was 10 years in the making.
The 27-year-old Kiwi was one of five athletes competing for Team World this weekend, taking on teams of five from Australia, Brazil, Europe and the United States.
Among the other names in the competition were current world champions John John Florence (US) and Tyler Wright (Australia), and a host of former champions, including Kelly Slater (US), Stephanie Gilmore (Australia) and the recently retired Mick Fanning (Australia).
“They’re all amazing surfers going,” Hareb said. “I’m taking my Mick Fanning T-shirt to hopefully get signed by him.”
In the opening round, each surfer will get six waves — three right-hand, three left-hand — spread over three runs.
Each athlete’s top two waves score towards their team’s total, with the three highest-scoring teams progressing to the finals.
The finals will see a more traditional format of surfing competition, with each member of the three remaining teams surfing in a three-person heat.
In the heats, each surfer will ride two waves and be given points for where they place. The team with the highest points haul after all five heats will claim the Founders’ Cup.
The competition, which had no impact on the Championship Tour standings, will be the first of seven events on Hareb’s schedule between May 1 and August 6, with stops in Brazil, Bali, Mexico and South Africa before heading back to the US.
And while she hadn’t seen the results she had hoped for in the opening three events in her return to the Championship Tour, Hareb remained focused on the long season ahead.
“Losing sucks, but I’ve been losing to world champions. I’ve had a tough draw but some of them were pretty close, so that’s given me some confidence,” she said.