Maud Lecar Controls Proceedings on Day 1 of Breti' Girls Pro Junior
Breti’ Girls Pro Junior ASP 1-Star European Women’s Pro Junior event Stop 2 of 7 on the 2011 ASP European Women’s Junior Series La Sauzaie, Bretignolles - France April 19-20, 2011
Maud Lecar Controls Proceedings on Day 1 of Breti’ Girls Pro Junior,
LA SAUZAIE, Brétignolles, France – Second event on this year’s ASP European Women’s Junior Series, the ASP 1-Star Breti’ Girls Pro Junior kicked-off today in consistent two-to-three foot (one meter) waves at La Sauzaie, current European rankings’ No. 3 Maud Lecar (Saint Martin, FRA) dominating proceedings.
With the tide specifics not allowing any competition before the afternoon, the first heat of the event was held at 3 PM, the twelve Round 1 athletes taking to the water and hungry to joint the event top seeds in the Quarterfinals.
Lecar, coming straight from the tropical island of Reunion where she placed equal 3rd in the ASP 2-Star Pro Junior event last week, opened her cold water run in great fashion, picking the right-handers’ option to post the day’s highest score with 14.25 points.
“I am still jet-lagged and it wasn’t easy to put the wetsuit on and paddle out in cold water,” Lecar said. “But the waves were actually pretty good and I felt in rhythm from the start with this good second wave. It’s good to be here and keep the momentum rolling through a secod consecutive event so I hope I can stay in the same state of mind.”
Lecar, 19, has been rising through the ranks of European Junior surfing for a couple of years and is aiming at stepping-up this year and ultimately qualify for the ASP Women’s World Junior Tour. Coming from a Semifinal finish in Reunion to open her 2011 campaign and looking in excellent form, the French West Indies native from Saint Martin will be a favorite in tomorrow’s finals.
“I feel good after a winter of training and want to do well at all events obviously,” Lecar said. “I spent the winter in Australia and Bali and have decided to go 100% for my career so this second event is important. I am super motivated.”
Joining event top seeds Justine Dupont (Lacanau, FRA), Garazi Sanchez (Sopelana, EUK), Lucia Martino (Gijon, ESP) and Leticia Canales (San Sebastian, EUK) in the Quarterfinals, Lecar will be eager to make the final when competition restarts tomorrow.
With some consistent waves expected to break at La Sauzaie tomorrow, event officials decided to call the event off after Round 1 and get all surfers back on site for a 7.30 AM call and start. Seven heats remain before the 2011 champion is crowned and tomorrow will see the start of big names all looking at a win in France.
“The tides are really big this week and it forces us to be very careful and make sure the surfers get the better waves,” contest director Julien Hamel said. “Tomorrow should be a good day with a slight push in the swell and light winds.”
Also advancing today were Fanny Brice (Lacanau, FRA) and Tassy Swallow (England, GBR), along with second best scorer of the day Erika Franco (ESP).
