The world’s best surfers are trickling into San Clemente for the Rip Curl WSL Finals and for the next two weeks there are parties and festivities, autograph signings, movie premieres and more planned to stoke out the fans coming from near and far.
This is the World Surf League finals’ third year at Lower Trestles, a surf break just south of San Clemente’s border in San Onofre State Beach. The winner-takes-all championship title showdown will be held sometime between Sept. 8 and 15, with the day when the top five men and women hit the water determined by the best surf conditions.
City leaders are beefing up promotional efforts to generate excitement, with plans for a party at the community center on Sept. 8, a surf-themed, storefront decorating contest on Avenida Del Mar and a green-line trolley extension to get people near the contest site on the day it runs.
“There hasn’t really been a big cheerleading campaign in celebration of our surf culture,” Kelly LeClair, chair of the San Clemente Downtown Business Association, said of past years. She was filming a marketing spot around the event. “We just wanted to do whatever we could to kick off the importance of the event being here.”
Already, a banner announcing the upcoming event hangs over the main drag of town and a “Walk of Champions” is displayed the wooden pier for people to learn about past world champions ahead of the event.
Angela Randazzo, of Utah, and family members strolled the pier, soaking in the sights of more than a dozen names adorning the yellow flags on display.
“I thought it was kind of cool to see some of the ’70s champions, that was our era,” Randazzo said. “I think this is a cool tribute for people to see the champions of the past. It’s awesome, it’s really neat.”
The city hasn’t done as much as it should have in the past to collaborate with the surf contest, said Mayor Chris Duncan, something he hopes to change.
“It’s the Super Bowl of…
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