The ocean might be toe-numbingly cold – but the action in the water is heating up.

Surf contest season is underway and local wave riders are battling it out at nearby beaches, starting off with a new contest series making waves throughout the country.

The U.S. Board Riders National Championships over the weekend brought hundreds of surfers to compete at Lower Trestles, the surf break just south of San Clemente, with the iconic surf town claiming both the first-ever national title and the coveted West Coast Board Riders Wheat Cup.

“They just dominated,” said Don Meek, who this year created the U.S. Board Riders Club, a nonprofit that aims to grow kinship in surf communities across the country. “In the end, you couldn’t beat San Clemente.”

Santa Cruz’ team came in second place, followed by the Space Coast club from Florida and New Smyrna Beach in the fourth spot.

The West Coast Board Riders Club was started in 2016 by friends Casey Wheat, Ziggy Williams and Chris Moreno as a way to unite city surf clubs through friendly competition, much like the popular clubs in Australia.

The idea caught on like a tsunami through surf towns across the country and earlier this year, to meet demand, the new U.S. Board Riders Club was formed.

The weekend was the biggest gathering of clubs yet, a new wave of community-based groups that has turned surfing into a team effort, rather than an individualistic pursuit.

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To date, there are about three dozen affiliated board riders clubs, including 16 on the West Coast, eight in South Jersey, two in the Mid-Atlantic and eight in Florida, with more planned from Hawaii to North Carolina.

Meek said there will be 50 clubs by the end of the year and he expects 200 in the next two years.

Some big-name surfers showed up to compete this week and earn their surf town bragging rights. Three-time world champion Tom Curran surfed for Santa Barbara and former World Tour surfers Rob Machado for Encinitas and Taylor Knox for Carlsbad also participated.

But San Clemente had a high-caliber team that couldn’t be beat. Pat and Tanner Gudauskas and friend Nate Yeomans, all who have surfed at the most elite World Tour levels, competed for their town, joined by Matt Archbold and Dino Andino, a former World Tour competitor and father of stand-out Kolohe Andino.

Cole Houshmand, Jett Schilling and brother-sister duo Sawyer and Taj Lindblad were among the new-school surfers that helped the team win.

“They set the standard, they set the bar,” Meek said, noting that while San Clemente had home-turf advantage, a northwest windswell had everyone trying to figure out the surf.

San Clemente surfer Laird Lavik, in a summary about the event, called it an honor to be a part of the team.

“The surfing heritage runs deep in our town and most of my nerves come from standing next to the older town legends before a heat,” he said in an event recap, noting that landing an 8.93 in the finals was his biggest moment.

Crosby Colapinto said it was special getting the surf community together, cheering each other on. “Competing at Lowers was epic. It felt like we had the hometown advantage because Lowers is our backyard and everyone was so passionate to surf their best for the city.”.

At future events, each of the five regions – Hawaii, North East, Mid Atlantic, Florida and Gulf Coast and the West Coast – will have one team qualify for a chance at the national championship, Meek said.

“The feedback has been radical,” Meek said.

Meek said there’s also global bragging rights on the line. He’s connected with Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, who invited the San Clemente team, as well as Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz, to compete at Snapper Rock in Australia for the Usher Cup and the international Board Riders title.

Meek said he believes the U.S. Board Riders Clubs are going to become the foundation for surfing in the United States.

“Our tagline is ‘the future is local,’” he said. “I think the time is finally right for it.

“We have multi-generations in the water. This is how you really connect with where you’re from. You see the change it’s made in the culture of towns,” he said. “It gives people the opportunity to connect in a very authentic way, a way for the elders to share with the kids what it means to be a surfer, to take care of the place, to do all the things important for surfing.”

And the surf action isn’t done.

An all-star U.S. Board Riders contest, with teams from different regions, get to compete in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, April 27, leading up to the Jack’s Surfboards Pro April 28 through May 1, which brings surfers in for a last shot at valuable points to enter bigger World Surf League events such as the U.S. Open of Surfing.

San Clemente’s Colapinto, who wants to join brother Griffin on the World Tour, is looking to repeat his 2019 win at the Huntington Beach contest.

The Jack’s Surfboards Pro will be streamed live at WorldSurfLeague.com.

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