O'Neill Cold Water Classic Joins 2012 World Tour

Rugged landscapes and chilly ocean temperatures are a feature of the O'Neill Cold Water Classic. Photo: O'Neill.

Rumours were circulating the surfing world a couple of months ago about Santa Cruz returning to the World Tour, and now it's official.

“We’re very happy to confirm the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz as a World Title event in 2012,” Renato Hickel, ASP World Tour Manager, said. “Santa Cruz offers a variety of world-class waves for our surfers to perform on and we’re hopeful that conditions will deliver for the world’s best to do battle in.”

The O’Neill Cold Water Classic has a long-standing history of competition, previously as a World Title event (before the two-tier system) and then as a Star and Prime event. Next year’s status as a returning World Title event coincides with the 60th anniversary of the O’Neill family’s contribution to surfing.

"We are excited to see a World Tour level event return to Santa Cruz as part of O'Neill's 60 Year anniversary,” Pat O’Neill, President & CEO of O’Neill Wetsuits, said. “Santa Cruz, with its rich surf history and tradition, is the perfect venue for this pivotal event. Mainland surfing started in Santa Cruz, Jack O’Neill developed many pioneering surf inventions here and it’s been home to the O’Neill brand for over half a century. Santa Cruz has always been regarded as a true surf community and was named the number one surf town in the U.S. by Surfer magazine. With a World Tour event in 2012 and the possibility of the World Champion being crowned, we expect to see an exciting chapter in surfing history written right in our front yard."

Bede in action at the 2011 O'Neill Cold Water Classic. Photo: O'Neill.

An ASP event for over three decades now, the O’Neill Coldwater Classic has been championed by California standouts such as Tom Curren, Bobby Martinez and Chris Brown from Santa Barbara, Peter Mel, Kieran Horn, Adam Replogle and Nat Young from Santa Cruz, Richie Collins and Todd Miller from Newport Beach, San Clemente’s Nathan Yeomans and Carlsbad’s Taylor Knox.

Illustrating the global impact of the event, the winners’ dais has also hosted international standouts Martin Potter, Todd Prestage, Beau Emerton, Joel Parkinson, Toby Martin, Jordy Smith, Matt Wilkinson and most recently Miguel Pupo. When the ASP Top 34 hit Santa Cruz next November, you can expect another worthy name to be added to such a historic list.

The world’s best surfers will contest the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz from 2 – 12 November, 2012.

Highlights from the 2011 O'Neill Cold Water Classic.