SWATCH GIRLS PRO China 2011 - The Noseriding Competition

The cleanest conditions of the week greeted competitors this morning as Riyuewan Beach stacked up with shimmering, ruler-edged lines. Male and female invitees to the Noserider Division were provided the perfect blank canvas in the form of ultra clean shoulder-high peeling lefts to exhibit their finest footwork, with the judging criteria simple: riding the nose. Christian Wach (USA) emerged victorious after a closely fought final, and picked up $3500 for his troubles. Harrison Roach (AUS) finished in close second, putting his body on the line in the name of performance. He dislocated his shoulder while falling on his board, popped it in himself and kept on surfing! Swatch ProTeam rider Kassia Meador (USA) finished 3rd. The noserider division was the exciting conclusion of a historic week for surfing, with the SWATCH GIRLS PRO CHINA hosted by Wanning being the first time international pro competition has ever been staged in China.

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"Record" for Largest Wave Ever Ridden Trivializes Big-Wave Surfing

A return to old-school measuring techniques is in order

Consider two representations of two very big waves, below. The first is a photograph of Mike Parsons at Cortes Bank. The second is a video of Garrett McNamara near Nazare, Portugal. Now take out some measuring tape and make the distance of one foot between your hands. That's the amount, according to the Billabong XXL committee, that McNamara's wave is bigger than Parsons's wave.