Three-time World Surfing Champion Mick Fanning and Mason Ho again head off in search of best swell the world’s coastlines have to offer. The Search goes way out there. We take it as far as the Earth will let us go. In every ocean and in every sea, we seek the far reaches for waves mysterious and unknown. And we’ve found them and we’ve surfed them. Swells that break off glaciers, others that surge up rivers, and then, roping sand bottom rights that hiss like rattlesnakes as they grind and spit for over a mile long.
Another Wave, Another Pool
‘Ultimate Surfer’ Announced
WSL NEWS
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
ABC today announced the network pickup of new competition series “Ultimate Surfer.” The eight-episode series will gather some of the world’s greatest up-and-coming surfers to train and live together as they battle it out at the World Surf League’s (WSL) state-of-the-art Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California, powered by Kelly Slater’s man-made wave technology, in the hope of competing amongst the best athletes in the world’s fastest-growing sport. Production will begin in 2020 and an airdate will be announced later this season. Slater will serve as on-air talent and special correspondent for the show.
Alliances and rivalries will be front and center in “Ultimate Surfer” as men and women compete in individual and team challenges focused on specific surfing disciplines. Weekly eliminations will leave two men and two women as finalists who will vie for the male and female titles of the Ultimate Surfer and the opportunity to compete on the WSL World Tour, the pinnacle of professional surfing. Slater’s remarkable, one-of-a-kind, man-made wave – the most even playing field for measuring surf mastery – is at the heart of the series.
“In addition to being a globally recognized sport, surfing is also a lifestyle; and ‘Ultimate Surfer’ will give viewers a uniquely personal look at what goes into becoming a world-class champion. We’re ecstatic about the opportunity to utilize Kelly’s world-class surf facility and his expertise in showcasing these incredibly talented on-the-rise athletes,” said Rob Mills, senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials and Late Night, ABC Entertainment.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity for two surfers (one man, one woman) to win an opportunity to compete against the best surfers in the world on the WSL Tour,”said Slater, who will be the lead consultant for the series. “This will put some of the best up-and-comers against each other in a more direct way to see who stands above the rest, and Surf Ranch is obviously a great venue to use for ‘Ultimate Surfer.’ I’m excited to watch how they step up to the challenge.”
The series comes out of the multiplatform co-development partnership between Pilgrim Media Group and WSL Studios, announced earlier this year.
“Ultimate Surfer” is produced by Lionsgate’s Pilgrim Media Group and WSL Studios. Pilgrim CEO and President Craig Piligian, WSL Studios President of Content and Media Erik Logan, and UFC President Dana White serve as executive producers. Surfers interested in being a contestant on the show must be 21 or older and can apply at www.UltimateSurferCasting.com, where more details are available.
About Pilgrim Media Group
Pilgrim Media Group, a Lionsgate company headed by Emmy®-winning producer Craig Piligian, produces a diverse slate of unscripted and scripted programming across all platforms. The company is behind hit series like “Ghost Hunters,” “American Chopper,” “Fast N’ Loud,” the “Street Outlaws” and “Wicked Tuna” franchises, “My Big Fat Fabulous Life,” “Misfit Garage,” “Garage Rehab,” “Aaron Needs a Job,” “Bring It!,” “Battlefish,” and “The Ultimate Fighter.” Among Pilgrim’s feature documentaries are the award-winning films Soufra and Tre Maison Dasan, now streaming on Hulu and PBS.org respectively, as well as The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story for YouTube Premium. Global content leader Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) is a majority investor in Pilgrim.
About WSL Studios
A division of the World Surf League, WSL Studios is a content creation engine, committed to delivering a broad range of high-quality surfing competition and community storylines to the world. The content is transformative and celebrates surfing, human potential and the ocean.
The WSL is the global enablement platform for surfing and surfers around the world, and has been dedicated to celebrating the world’s best surfing on the world’s best waves since 1976, annually running more than 180 global events across the Men’s and Women’s Championship Tours, the Big Wave Tour, Redbull Airborne, Qualifying Series, Junior and Longboard Championships, as well as the WSL Big Wave Awards. The League possesses a deep appreciation for the sport’s rich heritage while promoting progression, innovation, and performance at the highest levels.
About ABC Entertainment
ABC Entertainment airs compelling programming across all day parts, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” the longest-running medical drama in prime-time television; riveting dramas “The Good Doctor,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “A Million Little Things” and “Station 19”; the Emmy® Award-winning “Modern Family” and trailblazing comedy favorites “American Housewife,” “black-ish,” “Bless This Mess,” “The Conners,” “The Goldbergs,” and “Schooled”; the popular “Summer Fun & Games” programming block, including “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Holey Moley” and “Press Your Luck”; star-making sensation “American Idol”; reality phenomenon “Shark Tank”; “The Bachelor” franchise; long-running hits “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”; “General Hospital,” which has aired for more than 55 years on the network; and late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”; as well as the critically acclaimed hit special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons.'” The network also boasts some of television’s most prestigious awards shows, including “The Oscars®,” “The CMA Awards” and the “American Music Awards.” ABC programming can also be viewed on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu.
ABC Media Relations
Cheryl Pratesa
(818) 460-6089
cheryl.pratesa@abc.com
Lionsgate (On Behalf of Pilgrim)
Cristina Castañeda
(310) 255-5114
CCastaneda@lionsgate.com
WSL Studios
Heather Krug and Amy Denman
hkrug@worldsurfleague.com, adenman@worldsurfleague.com
Follow ABC Publicity on Twitter and Instagram.
Slater’s Wave Pool headed for the Sunny Coast.
There’s been a lot of hype over the past few years since Kelly Slater opened the gates to his secret laboratory wave pool, ‘Surf Ranch’, situated in Lenmoore California.
Since that first wave was showcased to the world, there have been two World Surf League events for both the women and men ‘The Freshwater Pro”, and plenty of surfers hitting the pool for training purposes.
Like myself, plenty of surfers have dreamed of such a perfect wave to surf in their own backyard, when nature decides to to turn the swell off, and other who just don’t get the quality of surf at their own beach locations.
Rumours have been circulating for just over a year that Kelly’s wave pool could be headed to our own Sunshine Coast. and today those rumours have been confirmed that the Sunshine Coast will get Australia’s first Kelly Slater Wave Pool.
Quoted from the local newspaper a year ago ‘The Sunshine Coast Daily’ Andrew Stark head of operations in Australia and Oceania for KSWC ,told the Sunshine Coast Daily that the location was a natural fit for a wavepool, “due to Australia’s culture, history and roots within surfing as well as its pristine beaches and commitment to environmental sustainability”.
“We are committed to working with those in the local area, and over coming weeks we will be talking to the community to explain the concept as well as listening to local perspectives.”
Though the exact location has not been confirmed, it is possible that the pool maybe attached to the proposed Coolum Sport facilities.
I say ‘BRING IT ON ! ‘
For more video footage visit KSWC.COM
Sunny Garcia In Critical Condition
Tandem Surf And Sport | NEWS
There are reports from sources that Sunny Garcia, 49 years old, World Champion in 2000, is in intensive care in the Oregon/Washingto region, USA after attempting to take his own life. Sunny is still alive, but in a critical condition, and those close to him are reported to be fearing the worst.
UPDATE: The WSL have confirmed that “Sunny Garcia is in the ICU in the hospital.”
Sunny has battled publicly with depression over the last 10 to 20 years.
Sunny is well known for being one of the more fire bolt, competitive, strong people in pro surfing ever since he came on tour as a young kid of 17 in 1987. Through the 90s, in an era dominated by Kelly Slater and the new school Momentum generation, Sunny was a beacon for traditional Hawaiian power surfing and achieved great success for it, winning the Hawaiian Triple Crown a record six times, and finishing top 10 in the year end rankings 11 times straight between 1990 and 2000. He is also a three-time winner and five time finalist of the highly regarded and heavily respected Rip Curl Pro Bells. In the year 2000, after going close many times before, he finally won the coveted World Surfing Championship.
Powerful, intimidating and outspoken, Sunny’s career has not been immune to controversy – featuring in verbal and physical altercations throughout a spectacular and colourful surfing career. In 2007, he served three months in prison for tax issues.
He told Surfing World in 2017: “For most of my career I was made to look like a monster. I’ve been in five fights in my entire life and of course they’ve all been documented. In the end you can’t think too much about that. All I can do is be the best person I can be today and know that I’m not perfect. That’s my right now.”
He and Luke Egan were the senior guys on tour for sometime in the 2000s, together they helped re-direct the world tour to better surf and a better deal for the pro surfers. Garcia retired from competition around 2008 and has competed in several other events such as the Eddy since then. In 2012, he won the WSL QS event the HIC Pro at Sunset Beach, aged 42 – a good 25 years after he became one of the world’s most respected surfers at 17.
He has three children and some grandchildren. Sunny has been a scary person to some people, but he has always worn his heart on his sleeve and is known to his close friends and family as a gentle and loving man. They in turn have loved and supported him right back, as have his many friends and fans throughout the surfing world. This of course doesn’t make anyone immune from the illness that is depression.
Today, tomorrow and onward, the surfing world is with Sunny Garcia.
We will report more details as they come to light.
If you or anyone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit the Lifeline website: https://www.lifeline.org.au