Surf and school

Mike Sciacca

Bron Heussenstamm calls Laguna Beach home.

But in essence, he’s comfortable anywhere in the world.

Heussenstamm, a very successful surfer, has traveled the globe in

search of perfect surf, prize money and all important ratings points

as he continues to ride the wave of his third year on the World

Qualifying Series tour.

His journeys have taken him to the shores of South Africa, the

Hawaiian Islands, throughout Europe, the Far East and to Tahiti.

Next week, though, he’s sticking closer to home as he contends for

the 2002 Men’s Division title at the Philips Fusion U.S. Open of

Surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier.

This is the sixth time the 1997 Laguna Beach High graduate has

competed in the Mainland’s largest surfing extravaganza.

His best finish was fourth place in the Billabong Pro Junior

competition in 1999. That placing came a month after he finished in

fourth place at the National Scholastic Surf Assn.’s Men’s Division

national championships.

“It seems like I’m surfing one contest or another, whether it’s

here in the states or overseas,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s pretty

hectic, but I like it like that way.”

As Heussenstamm continues to prepare for the U.S. Open of Surfing

and a busy summer surfing schedule, he’s also getting ready for the

upcoming school year.

He’ll be entering his second semester at Saddleback College at the

end of August, with plans of working toward an academic scholarship

and a transfer to USC, he said.

“I want to show others that you can go to college and still surf,”

he said. “Both are very important to me.”

It’s that balance -- between surfing the big contests and

remaining focused on education, that Heussenstamm seems to have

mastered.

He not only takes his board with him on his surfing excursions but

avoids the trappings of exotic travel by taking his school books.

The business major continues to learn about the world firsthand as

he travels it.

“We travel so much, and it’s easy to get caught up in the surfing

lifestyle,” he said.

Heussenstamm, who says he first surfed as a sixth-grader but

didn’t really get into the sport until he was 15 -- “When I got my

license, that was it, I was hooked,” -- surfs by day and takes night

classes at Saddleback.

He says he’ll miss the start of the fall semester due to a

rigorous surfing schedule that finds him first at the U.S. Open, then

flying off to Europe for four consecutive contests -- three in

France, one in Portugal. Then it’s back home to Laguna Beach before

departing for New Jersey and another contest. He’ll come home one

more time before leaving for a contest in Japan.

He welcomes the chance to stay close to home to surf the big

contest at Huntington Beach.

Heussenstamm, Mike Todd and Pat O’Connel are three Laguna Beach

athletes vying for the 2002 U.S. Open title.

They’ll be part of a stacked division featuring the world’s top

male surfers.

The Open is a six-star rated event and offers a $100,000 total

prize package, a $10,000 winner’s purse and offers competitors the

largest points allocation of any Mainland event in 2002.

Such surfing luminaries fighting for the title include defending

champion Rob Machado, reigning world champion C.J. Hobgood and former

world champions Kelly Slater and Sunny Garcia.

“The U.S. Open of Surfing has such an international flavor and the

caliber of men’s competitors is phenomenal,” said James Leitz, vice

president of Image Marketing Group, which stages Philips Fusion and

the U.S. Open of Surfing.

“But it’s the local angle that makes this event what it is, and

surfers like Bron Heussenstamm make the men’s field even stronger.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. He can be reached at 494-4321 or by e-mail at

michael.sciacca@latimes.com.