Every surf perv's favorite surfer, Alana Blanchard, is featured in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, and of course she's in her signature tiny bikini bottoms. She says in the article that she doesn't think their that small, and I agree with her. She could probably go a little smaller. I don't want to write too much about this though, she is from Hanalei, which means she has some wolves that keep an eye on her.

Let's not forget, though, that she is on the Women's WCT tour, which in case you don't know is the big leagues. She's like the Anna Kournikova of surfing. Or maybe not, I don't know how good Kornikova does on the court, but I do know Blanchard throws tail in the water. The pundits love her bottom turns.

Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Julian Wilson, Steph Gilmore, Coco Ho and Alana Blanchard. What do these six names have in common? They're all young, progressive, and shaking things up on the ASP World Tour. That's Dane above taking to the sky. Photo: ASP

Jordy and Dane were all the hype last year, and under the magnifying glass of the surfing world as they competed in their rookie seasons. Now, the two are starting their sophomore year, and both are coming off injuries. Jordy tweaked his knee at Sunset this past winter, and Dane hurt his ankle doing a big air.

How has this affected their surfing in the first event of the year? Not at all it seems, both have been cruising through their heats. Dane has the events only 10 and words can't explain how ridiculously he linked some super critical maneuvers, he also put up a 9.40. Jordy too has been very impressive, and I witnessed the "Changing of the Guard" yesterday when he seemingly effortlessly took out Taylor Knox.


Jordy gets his slide on in his Round 3 heat against Taylor Know. Photo: ASP

Speaking of the "Changing of the Guard," then there's Julian Wilson. The 20-year-old wildcard took out The Niner himself, as in 9x World Champ, Kelly Slater, in their Round 3 heat this past weekend. If you want to prove you're the next big thing, Slater's the man to beat.

What about the ladies? The Women's ASP World Tour has been talked about more this year than any other year I can remember. Two new faces: Coco Ho, 17, and Alana Blanchard, who just turned 19, are both from Hawaii and seem to have a mini-women's tour version of the Jordy/Dane thing of last year.


Stephanie Gilmore with a steazy' slice at D'bah. Photo: ASP

And let's not forget about, Steph Gilmore, she's still pretty young at 21 and took home her second ASP World Title last year. Now, to kick off the 2009 season she won the Roxy Pro Gold Coast on Sunday.

So there it is. This crew is the real deal and they're making me feel old and not want to surf anymore at 25. They're that good, lookout all you old-timers on those tours.