Association of Surfing Professionals

Huntington Beach, California--The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) North America is gearing up for its biggest event of the year, the GO211 LIVE featuring the Honda U.S. Open presented by O'Neill. This ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star men's and women's event held at the famed Huntington Beach Pier will run from July 18 through 27, 2008.

The U.S. Open of Surfing draws some of the best surfers from around the globe to a festival that brings multiple surf tours to one location. It is event No. 5 on the 2008 ASP North America World Qualifying Series (Men), event No. 2 on the 2008 ASP North America World Qualifying Series (Women), event No. 6 on the 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior Series (Men), event No. 2 on the 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior Series (Women) and event No. 1 on the 2008 ASP North America Longboarding Tour (Men).

Accompanying the ASP WQS 6-Star events will be the ASP Grade-2 O'Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior, the ASP 2-Star O'Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding and the recently-added ASP Grade-2 S3 Supergirl Pro Junior.

This ASP WQS 6-Star event always draws a multitude of international competitors to Huntington's shore for their piece of the $195,000 available in prize money, and ever-valuable ratings points towards qualification for the ASP World Tour and ASP Women's World Tour.

After 15 years of consecutive competition, the U.S. Open has crowned a bevy of marquee surfing talents including eight-time ASP World Tour Champion and current ratings leader on the ASP World Tour, Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, FL), Andy Irons (Hanalei, Kauai), C.J. Hobgood (Melbourne, FL), Layne Beachley (Queenscliff, NSW), Lisa Andersen (Ormond Beach, FL) and Stephanie Gilmore (Tweed Heads, NSW)--all of whom are former U.S. Open as well as ASP World Champions, proving the pedigree of U.S. Open Champions to be among surfing's finest.

The GO211 LIVE featuring the Honda U.S. Open presented by O'Neill will open competition with Honda men's U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O'Neill ASP WQS Trials, followed by the O'Neill U.S. Open Junior Pro presented by Honda and the O'Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding. Colin McPhillips (San Clemente, CA), who is a two-time U.S. Open Longboard Champion, will be back to defend last year's title and is focused on a repeat victory at this year's O'Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding.

"Defending my title this year is top priority for me," McPhillips said. "Competing in what is the Super Bowl of surfing is an unreal thing to win and I will do my best to bring that title home another year."

With the O'Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding as McPhillips' main focus, the veteran longboarder has been spending as much time in the water as possible to prepare for the upcoming event.

"My training throughout my entire career is surfing as much as possible." McPhillips said. "The best thing for your surfing is surfing. The only thing different is I have been stand-up paddle surfing a bunch, and really enjoying it."

The defending 2007 U.S. Open Longboarding champ will look to pocket his third U.S. Open title, the event that kicked off his professional career 14 years ago, as the U.S. Open was his first professional victory.

"The U.S. Open is a special event for me because it was my first pro win back in 1994," McPhillps said. "It is also great, because since the event is at home I get to bring my wife and kids with me."

Also running the opening weekend of competition will be the O'Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior and the recently-added S3 Supergirl Pro Junior. The ASP Grade-2 O'Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior will be stop No. 6 on the 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior Series, and will play a crucial role in the qualifying campaigns of the junior men for the prestigious Billabong ASP World Junior Championships.

The ASP Grade-2 S3 Supergirl Pro Junior will be the second women's event of the 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior Series; however, its late addition to this season's series will have the results count towards next year's qualification campaigns.

To GO211 LIVE featuring the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O'Neill will begin competition of Friday, July 18, 2008 at 8am with the ASP WQS Men's trials Round of 96.

For all of the LIVE action at this year's GO211 LIVE featuring the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O'Neill log onto www.usopenofsurfing.com. For information about the event, log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org.

About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing's undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP Men's World Tour, the ASP Women's World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America and South America. These regions manage all their respective domestic affairs under the guidance of ASP International, which is located on the Gold Coast of Australia. ASP International and ASP North America are committed to the progression of surfing and are dedicated to continuing excellent relationships with their surfers, event operators, sponsors and media. For more information log onto www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org.