Coffin and Van Dijk Win Nike US Open of Surfing Pro Junior

Conner Coffin (USA), 19, winner of the Nike US Open of Surfing Pro Junior Credit: IMG

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California/USA (Saturday, August 4, 2012) - Conner Coffin (Santa Barbara, CA), 19, and Nikki Van Dijk (AUS), 17, have won the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Nike US Open of Surfing Pro Junior at Huntington Beach Pier in clean two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves.

All Huntington Beach surf photos

Coffin dominated the final day of ASP Pro Junior competition with a powerful Semifinals performance and went on to leave his fellow finalists in a combination situation with a 17.10 out of 20 heat total to solidify the biggest win of his career.

"I can't even put this in to words," Coffin said. "I'm just so happy. I've been doing this contest for a long time and it's my sponsor's event. I used to struggle out here and I've been working hard on that and I'm just glad that Final went my way."

Coffin's win was no easy task, as the Santa Barbara standout topped local surfer Kanoa Igarashi (Huntington Beach, CA), 14, Cooper Chapman (AUS), 17, and defending Nike US Open of Surfing Pro Junior Champion Filipe Toledo (BRA), 17, in the Final.

"Filipe (Toledo) is a freak and he can do those airs on point," Coffin said. "I just got lucky that he didn't put it together in the Final. I had two 8s, but with him that's nowhere near safe. He can get 8s and 9s in every heat."
 

Nikki Van Dijk, freshly crowned Women's ASP Australasia Pro Junior Series Champion, made a charge in the back half of the ladies final and put together a powerful combination of turns to clinch the prestigious Women's Nike US Open of Surfing Pro Junior title.

"I'm really happy to just have had a good heat out there," Van Dijk said. "I'm happy to win for Australia. Even a win in the Pro Juniors is huge because it's the hardest comp to get in to. There are so many people here and the best surfers. All of the girls surfed really well."

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org

Men's Nike US Open Of Surfing Pro Junior Final Result:

1 - Conner Coffin (USA) 17.10
2 - Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 12.60
3 - Cooper Chapman (AUS) 11.97
4 - Filipe Toledo (BRA) 3.03