Tiffany and Chuck: ISA Tandem Surfing World Champions

By Tiffany and Chuck
The 2008 ITSA/ISA World Title of Tandem Surfing opened on Thursday morning with a total of 24 qualifying teams from Hawaii, California, Florida, Costa Rica, and France competing in six Opening Round heats.  We comfortably won our 20 minute first heat despite the small (1' - 2') and inconsistent waves that slowly rolled through in between long lulls. 
On Friday morning, we won both our 20 minute Quarter Final and Semi Final heats in even flatter conditions, which left teams floating for most of our heats and scratching for waves whenever they appeared. 

There was a bit of an upset in one of the Quarter Final heats when a relatively new Waikiki team bested 2006's World Champions, Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada (HAW).  This ultimately landed Keaulana and Terada in a stacked Semi Final heat with one of the highly favored teams, Rico Leroy/Sarah Burel (FRA), and 2007's World Champions, Kalani Vierra/Ala Vierra (HAW), who we were runners up to last year. 

We expected all three of these teams to be in the Final with us and were surprised that one of them would be eliminated earlier than expected.

Teams who advanced to the Final on Saturday afternoon were: Chuck Inman/Tiffany Rabacal (HAW), Rico Leroy/Sarah Burel (FRA), Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada (HAW), and Clay Huntington/Kristen Huntington (USA).  The 30 minute heat was held during high tide and set waves were few and far between. 

After missing the first three waves we paddled for, we finally got onto a total of four waves and were able to cleanly complete both lift sequences we had planned while getting our surfing maneuvers done.  And at the end of the day, our best was good enough to clinch a close victory over the French team...our very first win!!!

Interview with the champions
By Aurelie and Fred Branger from Nalu Association -
www.nalu-surf.com-

Tiffany and Chuck, you can tell the story of your succes step by step:
When did you start tandem surfing together? We started surfing together in late 2006 and officially became a team in February 2007.  I guess you could say there was a bit of a trial period!

You live in Hawaii, do you often ride with other tandem surfers? 
Oh, yes!  There are a number of tandem teams based out of Waikiki and it's great to have company in the water.  We surf with Brian Keaulana and Kathy Terada in Makaha whenever our schedules allow and head up to the North Shore with Bobby and Tiare Friedman during the winter when they fly in from the Big Island. 

You have a very advanced technique, tell us about your training and your past as an athlete. 
We've got to be the hardest working tandem team in the world!  LOL  After last year's 2nd place finish at the World Title, we were in the water training for this year's contest. 

Our average weekly competition training schedule is: at least 10 hours in the water training, 2 hours in the gym practicing lifts with acrobats, 2 hours at the beach working lifts on land, not to mention personal workout sessions and solo surfing when our schedules don't match up.  Chuck is a former football player and track runner in college while Tiffany is a former collegiate cheerleader and dancer.

How many times have you participated in the tandem surfing championships? 
We have both participate in the tandem surfing championships since it was created two years ago.  We had different partners in 2006, but have competed together in both 2007 and 2008.

Tell us about the Noosa Fest and the other World Tandem Tour stops? 
The Noosa Festival of Surfing is hands down our favorite competition other than the Duke's OceanFest World Title event.  It's a week long event very similar to our own Duke's OceanFest that highlights all types of surfing and the belief that "life is better when you surf".  We look forward to seeing new and old Australian friends, and the surf vibe in Noosa can't be beat! 

Tell us about the Duke Ocean Fest, the spectators, the ambiance, about the competitors ? 
Wow, what can we say.  Surfing in a World Title tandem event where it all started with Duke Kahanamoku is an absolute honor. 
There are so many events going on and everyone is happy to be a part of it.  The combination of competitors, supporters, kama'aina (locals) and tourists is so much fun and a great way to spread the joy of surfing.  For tandem surfers, the World Title also serves as a reunion to get together with friends/competitors who we sometimes get to see only once a year.  There's a sharing of technique, equipment, styles, and stoke that you don't get at any other competition.

How were the semi-finals? 
The semi-finals were stressful!  Small, inconsistent waves made for a very tense 20 minutes.  Everyone felt the pressure to find two decent waves and not fall because you didn't know if another wave would come along before the end of the heat.

How did you prepare for the final? How was your mind before during your heat? 
We wanted to keep our minds clear of distraction and get away from all the commotion at the contest site, so we snuck away to the rooftop parking lot at Chuck's condo to warm up and practice.  We must have looked very funny with our towel spread out in a vacant parking stall warming up our sequences! 
We just tried to keep our minds focused during the final and keeping it together even when it went flat and we missed three wavesin a row at first.  This was the first time that we didn't bother watching any of the other teams.  Our goal was to go out there and do our best no matter what. 

What do you think about the other finalists? All we can say is that it was an honor to be in the final with some of the best tandem surfers in the world.  Clay and Kristen Huntington (4th) have been in this sport for a number of years and have helped to spearhead the resurgence of tandem surfing in California with the Tandem Waveriders Organization. 

Brian Keaulana and Kathy Terada (3rd) from Makaha are personal friends of ours who have shared so much with us over the past year in terms of surfing knowledge, equipment and pure love of the sport.  Rico Leroy and Sarah Burel (2nd) from France have served to constantly be a source of inspiration and motivation to push the limits of our talents and the sport in general. 

You won in your home town, Waikiki, what did it represent for you?
It meant so much to both of us to win the World Title in Waikiki with all of our friends and family there to help us celebrate.  30+ friends of ours paddled out into the channel to cheer us on from the water and many more cheered us on from the beach.  Queens will always have a special place in our hearts and in a way it was a comfort to paddle out during the final to a break we call home. 

What will you do now with your world title?
Will you compete in other contests, exhibitions, surf trips. Have you found any sponsors?Right now we're just taking the World Title in day by day and it's finally starting to sink in.  We're World Champions!  We'd love to do more exhibtions and take trips with other tandem friends in the future, and are deciding on what to do competitively. 

I guess you can say we're so busy taking it all in that we haven't had the chance to figure out what we're planning for the future just yet.  We'll be sure to keep you posted though!  As for our sponsors, Quiksilver/Roxy is stoked to hear about our big win and C4 is stoked that their 11'6" "S'tandem" model is our board of choice for competition.  We're excited about what the future will bring!

Tiffany an Chuck's website : http://www.tandemhawaii.com

About International Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980. 

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA).

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