The East Coast's Best Junior Surfers Compete at Sebastian Inlet Jan. 25-26

Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series 2020 Season Starts Jan. 25-26 at Florida's Sebastian Inlet
 
Sebastian, Fla. (January 23, 2020) – The 2020 East Coast Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series kicks off in Sebastian Inlet this weekend, drawing the best junior surfers from New York to Florida. More than 80 surfers will compete for East Coast titles and qualify to surf the Toyota USA Surfing Championships at Lower Trestles in California. Surfline forecasters say conditions at Sebastian Inlet are lining up for a solid weekend of good surf. 
 
The Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series is the highest level of junior surfing in the nation, featuring the best under 18 surfers from up and down the East Coast who have proven themselves in local and regional competitions. The elite contest series is designed to prepare young surfers for the big leagues of surfing.
 
Two-time US Open winner and junior national team coach Brett Simpson will hold a team training on Friday, starting with the young developmental team and then focusing on the elite junior national team. 
 
The East Coast continues to generate impressive surfing talent. Palm City's Zoe Benedetto, Vero Beach's Tommy Coleman and Flagler Beach's Ryan Huckabee all earned medals in the recent ISA World Jr Surfing Championship, helping Team USA win the overall gold medal. Florida native and member of Team USA’s first Olympic team Caroline Marks qualified for the WSL Championship Tour while still competing in the Prime Series at age 15. Caroline holds the most USA Surfing Championship titles for junior girls.
 
Surfers competing in the Prime Series experience an event with judging, announcing and organization consistent with WSL pro events, including four-person heats with priority, computer scoring live on the STACT App and instant replay for the judges, and professional WSL/ISA judges and announcers. 
 
The Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series makes stops along both East and West coasts and culminates in the USA Surfing Championships in June. The competition was 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 Prime Series champion and podium roster is a who’s who in American surfing.
 
In addition to Caroline Marks, several current WSL pro surfers honed their competitive skills through USA Surfing’s Prime Series, including 3rd-ranked Lakey Peterson, 5th-ranked Kolohe Andino, 2018 US Open champions Courtney Conlogue and Kanoa Igarashi, fan favorites Conner Coffin and Griffin Colapinto. New Jersey’s Ben Gravy (Graeff) was on USA Surfing’s national team that competed in ISA World Championships in Australia in 2005. Wildwood Crest’s Maddie Peterson was on USA Surfing’s 2014 ISA World Junior Championship team. The Prime Series champion and podium roster is a who’s who in American surfing. 
 
This weekend’s Prime competitors will be treated to Alex Corson’s Faces 4 Autism Blue Wonderland Surf Wax to use before their heats. Alex is celebrating his one-year anniversary of spreading the stoke of surfing and support for Autism awareness through Blue Wonderland wax, social media and public speaking. 
 
Surf photographer Jack McDaniel will be the event photographer. Jack, who surfers know as Gromarazzi, has captured decades of the nation’s best surfers from their earliest years of competition up to professional WSL QS and Championship Tour levels.
 
Media contact: Becky (at) usasurfing (dot) org
 
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 and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). 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.