The World Surf League North America East Coast leg has arrived on the Outer Banks for the Men and Women’s Qualifying Series, which begins today and continues through Sept. 1.
The WRV Outer Banks Pro QS 1,000 presented by Pacifico and Sanuk will be broadcast live on www.WorldSurfLeague.com each day for fans around the world.
Many of the men’s contingent will be on hand from the Vans Pro Virginia Beach QS 3,000 and join some of North America’s upcoming women looking to get their careers started.
One of those women includes Zoe Bendetto from Palm City, Florida, who made her first WSL Final earlier this year at the Roxy Ron Jon Junior Pro and now she hopes to translate that to QS success. This marks just her third QS event and only her second outside of Florida with a promising career ahead.
The now 14-year-old has the mentorship of former event winner, and fellow Floridian, Asher Nolan as he continues to surf the event while coaching a few of the 32 women in attendance.
“It’s super exciting to be doing another QS on the East Coast, especially in Nags Head where I love the break,” Benedetto said. “I’s always been a great experience coming here. I love competing with great girls that push my surfing and it’s fun when there’s a good swell on the way. A big result would mean the world to me. I’m really trying to push myself this year to get the best results and most importantly improve my surfing, and gain experience.”
Other East Coast women hoping to reclaim the title from California’s Makena Burke include Kayla Durden (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.), Morgan Iglay (Manasquan, N.J.), Leah Thompson (Wrightsville Beach, S.C.) and many more. But, they will face off against international threat, last year’s Semifinalist, Tankia Hoffman (ZAF) and Californians such as Brooke Daigneault (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Abigail Dixon (Seal Beach, Calif.).
The men’s defending event winner Renan Peres Pulga (BRA) is back once more alongside 2017 winner, and fellow Brasilian, Gabriel Farias. The Brasilian’s always have a big presence in the Outer Banks going back to the event’s start and has only grown each year. Pulga’s victory over Chauncey Robinson(Melbourne Beach, Fla.) marked their dominance of the event two years running and with their compatriots Pedro Neves, Kim Matheus and Rodrigo Saldanha in attendance they will have a strong contingent once more.
“I’m really stoked to be back, last year was a dream that came true,” Pulga said. “That was the best day of my life and I will never forget it. It would epic to go back-to-back, I’m really trying to do it again. I just can’t wait to surf some real waves here in Outer Banks. I really like them here and the water is always warm which is so good.”
Pulga is also joined by fellow former event winner Kilian Garland (Santa Barbara, Calif.) as both look to join a very short list of competitors to win two events at the WRV Outer Banks Pro.
Outer Banks native Quentin Turko comes back home after making it to Round 3 of the Vans Pro Virginia Beach QS 3,000 and earning some respectable points as he now turns his attention to Jennette’s Pier. Turko already has a win under his belt in 2019 at the pier after helping Secret Spot surf shop claim the Oakley Shop Challenge just weeks ago. But, the stakes are higher on the QS with a formidable field of four previous event winners and a collection of QS threats in attendance.
“It’s such a good feeling coming back home after making some heats in Virginia Beach and I definitely feel like I’ve got a lot more confidence coming into this event,” Turko said. “I had a pretty hard loss in the last thirty seconds so I’m going to use that to motivate me in the Outer Banks Pro. My excitement level is through the roof, this swell is what everyone needed. I don’t think a local has ever won the contest so it would be insane to win it out here in front of everyone, that would mean so much to me.”