Elite Junior Surfing Prime Series Comes to Atlantic City Oct. 13-14

The Prime Series culminates with USA Surfing Championships in June – the pinnacle competition with 250 of the nation’s top surfers competing for national titles and USA Surf Team positions at one of the world’s best surf breaks – Lower Trestles.

*Note that the schedule is subject to change and could be compressed to take advantage of the best surf conditions.  
​Atlantic City, New Jersey (October 9, 2018) – Dozens of the best under 18 surfers from Florida to New York are invited to compete in USA Surfing’s elite Prime Series in Atlantic City, N.J. this weekend. The elite event sponsored by Got Milk? takes on extra excitement as surfing prepares to make its 2020 Olympic debut. USA Surfing is the National Governing Body for the sport of surfing in the Olympics. 
 
USA Surfing’s Prime Series is a nine-stop, cross-country tour created to bridge the gap young surfers experience when trying to make the leap from pro junior competition to next-level competition opportunities, including a position on the USA Surfing national teams, the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series and potentially the Olympics and WSL Championship Tour. 
 
The Atlantic City Prime event will take place at 500 Boardwalk in front of Ocean Resort Casino, where October typically brings excellent surfing conditions. The full list of East Coast qualifying surfers in each age division is listed here. Heat draws will be posted later in the week. 
 
East Coast surfers competing in the Prime Series experience an event with judging, announcing and organization on par with WSL pro events, including four-person heats with priority, computer scoring, professional WSL/ISA judges and announcers. It’s an important step up from competitions with six-person heats without priority, and manual, volunteer judging.  
 
Several current WSL pro surfers honed their competitive skills through USA Surfing’s Prime Series, including 2018 US Open champions Courtney Conlogue and Kanoa Igarashi, 2nd-ranked Lakey Peterson, 8th-ranked Kolohe Andino, 15th-ranked Griffin Colapinto and 14th-ranked Conner Coffin. No. 5 in the world, 16-year old Caroline Marks qualified for the WSL Championship Tour while still competing in the Prime Series.  
 
“The Prime Series which celebrates its 10thanniversary this year is universally regarded as the highest level of junior surfing in the USA and has been instrumental in transitioning talented kids to become standouts on the USA Surfing ISA World Junior Championship training team, the WSL Qualifying Series, Championship Tour and potentially the Olympics,” USA Surfing President and Prime Series co-founder Andrea Swayne said.
 
“There is no question USA Surfing has developed a strong pipeline of talent that is becoming the envy of the world,” said USA Surfing CEO and Prime Series co-founder Greg Cruse. “These are the athletes that show great promise not just for the 2020 Olympic Games, but 2024 in Paris and 2028 in Los Angeles.”
 
Cruse said he is grateful for the decade of support from the iconic brand Got Milk?. “These important events for developing youth talent cost more to run than they bring in from entry revenue. Got Milk? stepped in from day one to bridge the gap with their generous sponsorship of the series over the last decade.”
 
The Got Milk Prime Series continues in venues across the country including: 

• October 20 - 21, 2018 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event – Ocean Beach, San Francisco, Calif.
• November 17 – 18, 2018 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event and East Coast Junior Team Training – Nags Head, N.C.
• December 8 – 9, 2018 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event, Salt Creek, Dana Point, Calif.
• January 13 – 14, 2019 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event – Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, Calif.
• February 9 – 10, 2019 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event – Huntington Beach Pier, Calif.
• March 2 – 3, 2019 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event and East Coast Junior Team Training – New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
• March 9 – 10, 2019 – USA Surfing Prime Junior Event – Oceanside Harbor, Calif.

 
The series culminates with USA Surfing Championships in June – the pinnacle competition with 250 of the nation’s top surfers competing for USA Surf Team positions and national titles at one of the world’s best surf breaks – Lower Trestles.  
 
USA Surfing is the National Governing Body for surfing in the United States, recognized by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). USA Surfing’s mission is to promote and grow the sport of surfing and support United States athletes of all backgrounds to achieve sustained competitive excellence in Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American competition. USA Surfing will oversee and support America’s Olympic team as surfing makes its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and surfing and stand-up paddleboarding athletes compete in the 2019 Pan American Games.