MEN’S AND WOMEN’S OPENING ROUNDS COMPLETED AT CARAÏBOS LACANAU PRO 
- JUNIORS HIGHLIGHT OPENING DAY OF COMPETITION
- SURF ON THE WAY TO LACANAU
- MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM

Caption: Erwan Blouin (FRA) in Round One.
Credit: © WSL / Masurel

GRANDE PLAGE, Lacanau - France (Tuesday, August 15, 2017) - The Caraïbos Lacanau Prolaunched today in bumpy two foot surf and completed the opening round of both the men and women’s competition. An excellent sandbank right in front of the event site, delivered good little lefts and rights even with the short period small swell on offer.

Erwan Blouin (FRA), 17, claimed the men’s opening round’s highest combined heat total with good surfing on the little running lefts of the grande plage. The talented junior who ranked fifth on his final European junior season is now transitioning to the Qualifying Series level and won his first-ever heat.

“I’m almost like home here I live close and I’m happy to do my first QS in Lacanau,” Blouin said. “I got through with decent scores even though the waves weren’t easy so I’m happy with that. I found a couple that opened up for me and managed to do a few little airs.”

Juliette Lacome (FRA), 14, wrapped the day up in the final women’s heat of Round One with a dynamic display of good surfing to post an impressive 13.00 total and advance into the next round. The Biarritz surfer at only 14 years old showed great potential and will look to build more experience with some of the event’s higher seeded surfers in Round Two.

“I was a little bit nervous going into that heat but I actually had fun,” Lacome said. “I’m not too pressured, I’m only young and doing the QS is all about getting to surf against the oldest surfers, I’m also seeing all my friends here which is great. I got that little epoxy board from Justin Becret and it works wonders in the small surf.”

While only eight heats were disputed on the opening day of competition, the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro provides endless entertainment for the thousands of tourists in Lacanau this week. The Girondins Sport Events team behind this event, have revamped the festival with skateboarding and rollerblading beginners courses as well as demos from professional athletes, and of course LIVE music every night on the main stage.

“Our goal is to open this event to everyone, by showcasing all the different sports that revolve around surfing,” Nicolas Descous, marketing project manager, stated. “It has already been a great success so far with all the activities we put on, we had over 3,000 people attending our launch night, and now you can feel people are getting excited about the WSL event starting too.”

Coming from the world of professional football, the organizing team brought a very professional structure to the existing event and built on the popularity of the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro to reach an even greater audience.

“We have a lot of experience in sporting events, and even though it’s a first time in surfing, there are a lot of similarities,” Descous continued. “What we want is to embrace the culture and traditions of surfing, and channel it into the event to give everyone from the athlete to the spectators a great experience.”

Competitors and event officials will reconvene at 9 a.m Wednesday to reassess conditions.

The Caraïbos Lacanau Pro is scheduled from August 16-20, 2017 at Grande Plage, Lacanau - France. For all results, photos, video highlights and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com. 

The Caraïbos Lacanau Pro is organized by Girondins Sport Events and the Lacanau Surf Club, supported by the city council of Lacanau, with event partners Caraïbos, Kronembourg, Cafe Maritime, Enerconfort, Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Grisel Immobilier, Médoc Atlantique, Loca MS, Surf Session, Surf Report, SFR Sport, Sud Ouest, NRJ and W9 among others.

UPCOMING CARAÏBOS LACANAU PRO MEN’S ROUND 2 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Shane Sykes (ZAF), Kaito Kawamata (JPN), Nanook Ballerin (FRA), Jonas Bachan (AUT) 
Heat 2: Ely Cassirer (ISR), Victor Done (USA), Raoni Monteiro (BRA), Issam Auptel (FRA) 
Heat 3: Arne Bergwinkl (DEU), Arran Strong (GBR), Andres Mondo Prados (ARG), Ignacio Guisasola (ESP) 
Heat 4: Gonzalo Gutierrez (ESP), Naru Awada (JPN), Heremoana Luciani (PYF), Kyllian Guerin (FRA) 
Heat 5: Richard Kidd (ZAF), Benjamin Hucker (AUS), Lenni Jensen (DEU), Ben Penny (AUS) 
Heat 6: Francisco Carrasco (PRT), David Noy (ISR), Ugo Robin (FRA), Maxime Dos Anjos (FRA) 
Heat 7: Luis Diaz (CNY), Kalani Da Silva (CNY), Frank Chenault (USA), Jock Barnes (AUS) 
Heat 8: Kai Awada (JPN), Thomas Debierre (FRA), Ariel Sanin (ISR), Aboubakar Bouaouda (MAR) 
Heat 9: Quinn Bruce (AUS), Mathis Crozon (FRA), Robertson Goncalves (PRT), Enzo Poulat (FRA) 
Heat 10: Liam O'Brien (AUS), Dylan Groen (DEU), Jose Maria de Paz (ESP), Erwan Blouin (FRA) 
Heat 11: Moses Le Grice (AUS), Enzo Cavallini (FRA), Soufiane Charoub (MAR), Francisco Morosini (URY) 
Heat 12: Leon Glatzer (DEU), Lander Davila (ESP), Jihad Khodr (BRA), Kaspar Hamminga (NLD) 
Heat 13: Renan Peres (BRA), Leo Paul Etienne (FRA), Bruno De Andrade Maia (BRA), David Dorne (GLP) 
Heat 14: Ruben Gonzalez (PRT), Eliott Napias (PYF), Vitor Ferreira (BRA), Pedro Berasaluze (ESP) 
Heat 15: Julen Egiguren (EUK), Pablo Montero (ESP), Alessandro Piu (ITA), Diego Suarez Diaz (CNY) 
Heat 16: Alex Bauduin (CNY), Jakob Lilienweiss (DEU), Raul Bormann (BRA), Edoardo Papa (ITA) 

CARAÏBOS LACANAU PRO MEN’S ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Issam Auptel (FRA) 9.84, Kyllian Guerin (FRA) 7.43, Julien Cambon (GLP) 7.27, Manolo Pochiero (ITA) 5.03
Heat 2: Maxime Dos Anjos (FRA) 9.67, Aboubakar Bouaouda (MAR) 9.57, Matteo Calatri (ITA) 5.57, Nicolas Guimond (FRA) 5.27
Heat 3: Erwan Blouin (FRA) 12.56, Kaspar Hamminga (NLD) 7.24, Colin Doyez (REU) 7.06, Titouan Deffarges (FRA) 5.33
Heat 4: Pedro Berasaluze (ESP) 9.30, Edoardo Papa (ITA) 8.70, Olivier Cassaigne (FRA) 6.53, Gilles Rese (DEU) 5.77

UPCOMING CARAÏBOS LACANAU PRO WOMEN’S ROUND 2 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Ren Hashimoto (JPN), Teal Hogg (ZAF), Lucia Martiño (ESP), Marion Philippe (PYF) 
Heat 2: Reika Noro (JPN), Nagisa Tashiro (JPN), Elle Sampiere (USA), Eveline Hooft (NDL) 
Heat 3: Kirra Pinkerton (USA), Eliza Greene (AUS), Lucia Cosoleto (ARG), Jessica Anderson (CHL) 
Heat 4: Ella Williams (NZL), Meah Collins (USA), Denver Young (AUS), Yolander Hopkins (PRT) 
Heat 5: Tia Blanco (USA), Ariane Ochoa (EUK), Josefina Ane (ARG), Neis Lartigue (FRA) 
Heat 6: Frankie Harrer (DEU), Ainara Aymat (EUK), Uhaina Joly (FRA), Leilani Aguirre (PER) 
Heat 7: Vahine Fierro (PYF), Kaleigh Gilchrist (USA), Pacha Luque-Light (USA), Juliette Lacome (FRA) 
Heat 8: Camilla Kemp (PRT), Peony Knight (GBR), Autumn Hays (USA), Leonor Fragoso (PRT) 

CARAÏBOS LACANAU PRO WOMEN’S ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Marion Philippe (PYF) 7.76, Eveline Hooft (NDL) 6.10, Anouk Duboe (FRA) 4.43, Evelyn Gontier (ARG) 4.03
Heat 2: Jessica Anderson (CHL) 7.40, Yolander Hopkins (PRT) 7.36, Nina Reynal (FRA) 4.63, Karla Fodor (FRA) 4.00
Heat 3: Neis Lartigue (FRA) 6.83, Leilani Aguirre (PER) 6.47, Tiana-Breeze De Mooij (NZL) 5.37, Anne-Cécile Le Tallec (FRA) 4.10
Heat 4: Juliette Lacome (FRA) 13.00, Leonor Fragoso (PRT) 4.50, Nadia Erostarbe (EUK) 4.07, Victoria Capdepont (FRA) 3.73