OP PRO SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS : All-Star Fields to Test Defending Champions Holland, Zamba, Melhado

Tom Curren gliding effortlessly across the waves. Mark Occhilupo banging his surfboard off the lip. Richie Collins tossing floaters and aerial maneuvers. The dominance of Frieda Zamba.

All have become images of the Op Pro surfing championships.

More than 250 surfers will paddle into the surf south of the Huntington Beach Pier this week with one thing in mind--winning the Op Pro, the largest surfing competition on the U.S. mainland.

The seven-day competition begins today with trial rounds for the women and junior amateurs. It ends Sunday with the men’s finals.

Todd Holland of Cocoa Beach Fla., and Zamba of Flagler Beach, Fla., will defend their titles as well as Op Junior champion Danny Melhado of San Clemente.

Some of the surfers to watch:

Men

Matt Archbold, San Clemente--Currently ranked second on the Professional Surfing Assn. of America tour behind Shane Beschen of San Clemente, Archbold is one of the top local surfers in the Op Pro. He overcame a bout with alcohol and drugs last year and has won two stops on the PSAA tour this year. Archbold also can be seen in the movie “Point Break,” where he’s the surfing stunt double for Patrick Swayze.

Rob Bain, Manly, Australia--Bain, 28, is currently second in the tour rankings behind fellow Australian Damien Hardman. Bain is coming off his best season in six years, finishing fifth in the final standings.

Shane Beschen, San Clemente--Beschen currently leads the PSAA standings with 3,908 points, 121 ahead of Archbold. Two of his biggest victories were in the 1990 Easter Classic at Bolsa Chica State Beach and in this year’s Imperial Beach contest.

Jeff Booth, Laguna Beach--Booth won his first ASP event--the Yop Reunion Pro--July 7 by beating Hardman in the finals. The victory lifted him into fifth place in the tour rankings. Before his pro career, Booth was one of the top surfers in the National Scholastic Surfing Assn. He graduated from Laguna Beach High in 1988 with a 4.0 grade-point average.

Richie Collins, Newport Beach--Collins upset favorite Curren in the 1989 Op finals, but was surprised by Luke Egan of Newcastle, Australia, in the early rounds last year. Collins, 23, considered one of the more radical and unpredictable surfers on the tour, has finished eighth in the final rankings the past two seasons.

Tom Curren, Santa Barbara--Curren, now living in Biarritz, France, came out of semi-retirement last year to win his third world title. He won seven contests last season, pushing his nine-year career total to 31. A three-time Op champion, he finished fifth in last year’s contest, losing in the quarterfinals to Op teammate Todd Holland.

Gary Elkerton, Mooloolaba, Australia--Elkerton, 26, was ninth at last year’s Op, but counted on seven second-place tour finishes to wind up second to Curren in the season rankings. He competed at the Huntington Beach Pier in February, winning the inaugural Op Wintersurf Pro, a combination surfing-snowboarding event. He now lives in Lacanau, France, and snowboards in the French Alps in his spare time.

Brad Gerlach, Encinitas--After six years on the tour, Gerlach has cracked the top five in the standings. He earned his third career victory at the Coke Classic in April. Gerlach, 25, is tied with Barton Lynch for third in the current overall standings. His father, Joe, was a 1956 Olympic diver for Hungary and his mother, Cheryl, is a former competitive water skier. He finished fifth in last year’s Op Pro.

Todd Holland, Cocoa Beach, Fla.--Holland, 22, earned his first tour victory last year by beating Marty Thomas in the Op finals. Holland beat Curren, Martin Potter and Flavio Padaratz to reach the final. He finished 11th on the tour with $45,975 in winnings. A karate champion as a youth, Holland’s hobbies include restoring vintage 1960s cars and hunting.

Barton Lynch, Manly, Australia--After struggling to a ninth-place tour finish in 1989, Lynch, 27, returned to his winning ways last year with a third-place finish. He’s off to a strong start this year, winning the Rip Curl Classic and is tied for third in the rankings with Gerlach. Lynch, the 1987 Op champion and 1988 world champion, won last year’s Drug Offensive Masters contest, where he experimented in the finals with a two-way radio helmet that enabled him to receive instructions from the beach.

Martin Potter, Sydney, Australia--Potter, the 1989 world champion, was slowed by a shoulder separation and slipped to 15th in last year’s rankings. He still won two contests--the Rip Curl Pro and the now-defunct Life’s A Beach contest in Oceanside--and earned $44,670. Potter won six contests in 1989 and took home $116,875.

Kelly Slater, Cocoa Beach, Fla.--Surfing fans got a glimpse of Slater when he won the inaugural Op Junior amateur title in 1989. The hottest young surfer to hit the ASP tour in years, Slater, 19, is joining the tour full-time after the Op. He took home $30,000 last fall for winning the PSAA contest at Lower Trestles.

Marty Thomas, Long Beach--Thomas nearly ended his search for his first tour victory last year when he reached the finals at the Op, only to lose to Holland. Thomas, 22, went on to finish ninth on the tour. Thomas grew up in Seal Beach and now has homes in Long Beach and Sunset Beach, Hawaii. An avid golfer, he regularly shoots in the low 80s.

Others to watch: Dino Andino (San Clemente), Chris Brown (Santa Barbara), Tom Carroll (Newport, Australia), Bryce Ellis (Avoca Beach, Australia), Sunny Garcia (Waianae, Hawaii), Damien Hardman (Narrabeen, Australia), Derek Ho (Sunset Beach, Hawaii), Cheyne Horan (Palm Beach, Australia), Mike Lambresi (Oceanside), Dave Macaulay (Cowaramup Bay, Australia), Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel), Flavio Padaratz (Florianopolis, Brazil), Mike Parsons (San Clemente), Nick Wood (Newcastle, Australia).

Women

Lisa Andersen, Ormond Beach, Fla.--Andersen, formerly of Huntington Beach, enjoyed her best season last year, finishing fourth in the Assn. of Surfing Professionals rankings. She won two events and placed in the top three in seven contests. Andersen, 22, has been surfing only seven years.

Wendy Botha, Newport Beach, Australia--Botha, the 1989 world champion, was slowed last year by a knee injury. She competed in a bulky knee brace and was the runner-up to Zamba at last year’s Op. She underwent successful surgery in the off-season.

Pam Burridge, Newport Beach, Australia--Burridge ended nine years of frustration last year by winning the world title. She had finished second four times before she edged Botha for the championship. Burridge, 25, the 1984 Op champion, finished in a tie for third with Alisa Schwarzstein in last year’s Op.

Nea Post, Huntington Beach--After placing fifth at the World Amateur Championships, Post, 19, turned pro just before last year’s Op. She finished 15th on the ASP tour, winning $3,075. Although she finished 25th at the Op, she came back later in the season and qualified for the main event in six consecutive contests. Her best finish was fifth at Newcastle, Australia.

Alisa Schwarzstein, Laguna Beach--Schwarzstein, a former standout at Laguna Beach High, finished tied for third with Burridge in last year’s Op. Schwarzstein is in her eighth season on the ASP tour and is still looking for her first career victory. A three-time U.S. amateur champion, Schwarzstein won the world amateur title in 1980. Schwarzstein, 26, has a bachelor of arts degree from UCLA.

Frieda Zamba, Flagler Beach, Fla.--Zamba, 26, a nine-year veteran of the ASP tour, has won four Op Pro titles, more than any other surfer. The two-time defending Op champion also won in ’84 and ’86. A four-time world champion, she has spent the last two seasons in semi-retirement.

Others to watch: Jodie Cooper (Albany, W. Australia), Michele Donoghoe (Byron Bay, Australia), Kim Mearig (Santa Barbara), Pauline Menczer (Bondi Beach, Australia), Toni Sawyer (Manly, Australia), Jorja Smith (San Clemente), Jolene Smith (San Clemente).

Juniors

Carlos Cabrero, Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico--Cabrero, 16, is one of two Puerto Rican surfers competing in the Op Junior. He was the 1989 Puerto Rico Surfing Federation champion. He placed 11th at the 1990 world amateur championships.

Jeff Deffenbaugh, Huntington Beach--Deffenbaugh, 18, has competed in both Op Juniors, finishing third last year and fifth in 1989. He won the 1989 U.S. Junior championships and is a member of the U.S. world junior team.

Pablo Diaz, Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico--Diaz, 17, is coming off his finest season with the Puerto Rican Surfing Federation. He finished second in the junior division and third in the men’s division. He won the tour’s last four events, including the Puerto Rican nationals.

Shea Lopez, Indian Rock Beach, Fla.--Lopez, 17, won the 1990 National Scholastic Surfing Assn. nationals and has won East Coast age-group division championships in 1987, ’89 and ’90.

Rob Machado, Cardiff--Machado, 17, was second to Slater at the 1989 Op Junior. He won the 1990 NSSA open season, and was first in the U.S. junior trials. Machado graduated from San Clemente High in June with a 3.8 grade-point average.

Kalani Robb, Haleiwa, Hawaii--Only 14, Robb will be one to watch as he makes his Op Junior debut. Robb was named the 1990 Hawaii Surfing Federation surfer of the year.

Others to watch: Bob Baum (Huntington Beach), Barry Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach), Troy Eckert (Newport Beach), Chad Navarro (San Clemente), Ryan Simmons (Seal Beach), Josh Vesque (San Clemente).