WSL LONGBOARD TOUR STARTS FROM MANLY BEACH, AUSTRALIA
The WSL Longboard Tour schedule was released in late March, when the dates and locations hosting 2022 events were announced.
By Erika Scafuro
The WSL Longboard Tour schedule was released in late March, when the dates and locations hosting 2022 events were announced. Twenty male and twenty female surfers will compete in competitions that will take place in Manly Beach, Huntington Beach and Malibu. In the press release issued by the WSL website reads: “We’re looking forward to kicking off the World Longboard Tour and crowning World Champions later this year at the iconic break of First Point, Malibu” said Devon Howard, WSL Longboard Tour Director. “We’re also excited that this year’s Tour will start at Manly Beach then continue on at Huntington Beach. All of this Tour’s breaks are steeped in longboard history spanning back to the 1960s, where champions were crowned and surf culture as we know it today entered the world stage”.
In view of the first competition of the event, which will be held in Manly Beach, Sidney – Australia, from 16 to 24 May, let’s tell something about this surfing location. Located in New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia, Manly Beach is one of the most popular and crowded beaches of Sydney. There are many references linked to the beach break northern Sidney and the history of surfing, one of the reasons that undoubtedly makes Manly Beach famous is that it was here that it was held in 1964 the first official world surfing championship.
Going even further back with the years, we cannot fail to mention that in 1915 the Hawaiian surfing legend, Duke Kahanamoku brought surfing to the northern beaches of Sidney contributing to its development in Australia: there is one of the first surfing photos that shows Duke on Freshwater Beach with a surfboard he built.
Manly Beach represents a special place to start the Longboard Tour and feel part of the surfing history.
After the first stop, competitors can train enough for a few months before tackling the second event in Huntington Beach, California form 3 to 7 August and then finally the last competition in Malibu, California, from 3 to 13 October; this third event will crown the female and male surfer winner of the WSL Longboard tour
