Two professional surfers captured their career-first wins at this summer’s U.S. Open of Surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier.
Avalon Gall of the United States and Kai Ellice-Flint of Australia fought their way through finals day, taking down previous event winners and world longboard champions to earn their first event victories. A rising longboard tour talent, Gall secured a historic win over threetime World Longboard Champion Soleil Errico of the U.S.
Elice-Flint defeated defending event winner Taylor Jensen of the U.S., who had reached the U.S. Open final for the fourth consecutive year. Californians Sawyer Lindblad and Levi Slawson won the 2025 World Surf League Challenger Series competition, competing in 3-to-5foot sets.
“Another great Lexus U.S. Open of Surfing that climaxed with a great Sunday finals day with the men’s division coming down to the final waves as the hooter sounded,” said surfing legend PT Townend, International Professional Surfing’s (IPS) first world champion.
The event, held July 26 to Aug. 3, is stop No. 1 on the World Surf League Longboard Tour and attracted huge crowds daily south of the pier.
Huntington Beach has hosted the U.S. Open of Surfing since 1959. In 1964, it became known as the United States Surfing Championships, and in 1982 was called the OP Pro for its sponsor, Ocean Pacific. Since 1994, the event has been named the U.S. Open of Surfing. The event attracts the top surfers from around the globe.
The U.S. Open is the grand finale during a week of events in downtown Huntington Beach, including the Surfers Walk of Fame induction ceremony. This year’s inductees are Caroline Marks, Tom Servais and Dwight Dunn.
Each year the Hall of Fame selection committee compiles a ballot of candidates with the help of cooperating surf associations, museums, magazines, and other media organizations. The ballot is broken down into five categories of achievement: surf pioneer, surf champion, woman of the year, surf culture and local hero. The list of candidates is distributed to an international panel of surfing authorities who cast their votes to decide which candidates will receive the coveted stones.
“We are honored and excited to induct Caroline, Tom and Dwight into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame,” said Hall of Fame founder Aaron Pai. “They are the best in the world in their fields of surfing.”
Marks, a world champion and Olympic gold medalist, Servais a famed surf photographer, and Dunn, a Huntington Beach standout surfer, added their hands, feet and signature to concrete during the Walk of Fame ceremony held just across from the Huntington Beach Pier on Aug. 1 “The Lexus U.S. Open of Surfing did not disappoint,” said John Etheridge, a Fountain Valley resident, owner of Seashore Pest Control in Huntington Beach and a Walk of Fame board member. “After starting off slowly with smaller waves, the last three days of intense competition were greeted by pumping 3–6-foot swells. The tens of thousands of fans on the beach and pier really loved it!”
Etheridge added, “Likewise, the 2025 Surfing Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony watched legends of surf gather to celebrate the inductees. Nearly 1,000 fans and family gathered on Main Street to enjoy the perfect day in Downtown HB.”