Wet ‘N’ Wild with Rockin’ Fig:

The National Scholastic Surfing Assn.’s National Championships are on! East Coast, West Coast and Hawaii are ready to surf it out. They started Wednesday at Salt Creek with interscholastic divisions getting things going. Today will see explorer divisions getting underway, with juniors, men’s, master’s seniors, super seniors and women’s taking over the lineup. College, high school, middle school and air show will run Saturday. The next big show will move 10 miles south, to Lower Trestles in San Clemente, for that killer point break that picks up south swells perfectly. They’ll be picking up the action again Tuesday.

This is the ninth year for the California State Governor’s Cup for men’s and women’s. This year, Hawaii’s Tanner Hendrickson looks like a favorite, winning three events in Hawaii this season, and had a strong showing last year at the nationals. Another Hawaiian, Alex Smith, came on big time at the end of the season and is looking to make a final appearance.

Huntington Beach’s Christian Saenz took the overall West Coast title and has been ripping all season, too. Capo’s Luke Davis won the regionals and is always a threat, not to mention East Coast rippa Evan Thompson, who won the eastern regionals. In women’s, Orange County’s Courtney Conlogue is looking for the trifecta; she won the overall regionals and wants that national title, too. But some hot Hawaiians will be on hand, like Malia Manuel, who won the U.S. Open in Huntington Beach last summer, and Leala Hurst, who aced a couple national titles in 2008, plus Santa Barbara’s Lakey Peterson, who had 14 wins this last season. The juniors have a lot of talent, starting with Hawaiian Keanu Asing, who won the open juniors title in the islands and is just off winning the I.S.A. world junior championships in Ecuador. San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino has six national titles and might break Bobby Martinez’s record of seven national titles this year. Santa Barbara’s Conner Coffin won conference and regional titles, and East Coast sensation Evan Geiselman won his 13th regional title and is hungry for a win. Can’t forget about Huntington Beach’s Kainoa Igarashi, surfing up a division, winning an incredible 30 events last season.

In the high school championships, Huntington Beach High has won 17 national titles, but hasn’t been on the victory stand in 10 years. Edison High really stepped it up in regular season and could post an upset. In middle school action, Dwyer is led by Surf City hottie Igarashi, so anything can happen, with Sowers Middle School’s A and B teams in the mix.

Over and out.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.