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Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Genesis' surf documentary chronicles trip of a lifetime for Huntington Beach duo
Some of the most beautiful waves that Luke Guinaldo and Dylan Sloan have ever surfed were at a secret spot near Nias, an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The two Huntington Beach surfers marveled at the waves. Then Sloan tried riding one. 'The wave went so below sea level, I couldn't drop it,' Sloan said. 'It just fully threw me over the falls.' Guinaldo watched the situation unfold. 'I didn't see that he didn't make the drop, but I look back and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, where is he?'' he said. 'I see Dylan pop out, and I'm dying laughing because I knew he went over the falls on the biggest wave of his life. I can't imagine he's ever had a wipeout that gnarly.' A realization soon set in. 'I was kind of tripping,' Guinaldo added, starting to laugh. 'I was like, 'Dang, he already took his wipeout, now I'm next.' Guinaldo, 20, and Sloan, 17, won't soon forget that month-long surf trip to Indonesia they took from mid-April to mid-May this year. Now others can enjoy it, too. 'Genesis,' a surf film chronicling their trip, debuted Friday night with a pair of shows at Surfing the Nations in downtown Huntington Beach. Hurley, which sponsors both surfers, budgeted the trip, but Guinaldo said this was still very much a do-it-yourself sort of film project. Austin DeSousa served as cinematographer. 'Dylan had been to Indonesia, I had been to Indonesia, but we never went together,' said Guinaldo, a 2022 Huntington Beach High graduate, during a group interview with the Daily Pilot. 'One night, after hanging out, I was showing him videos of my trip last summer, and he was showing me videos of his trip last summer. I was like, 'We've got to go together and score waves, make a movie out of it.' That's kind of how it was born.' Guinaldo has been surfing on the World Surf League men's Qualifying Tour for the last few years. Sloan is still in school, an incoming senior on the Huntington Beach High surf team. Together, they had plenty of adventures during their weeks in Indonesia. DeSousa, who had never before been out of the country, said he would have to leave his camera equipment outside to de-fog due to the high humidity. 'One of my favorite parts is meeting a lot of people from all around the world,' said DeSousa, a resident of Orange. 'We met this group from Portugal, and they were super nice. We saw them at two different surf spots we went to, [surf resorts] Macaronis and Hollow Trees. I got to surf with them one time, and they were super supportive of everything we were doing.' Highlights also included a 17-hour car ride from one side of the country to the other, so they could get to a harbor and catch a ferry. 'The harbor was disgusting, so bad,' Guinaldo said. 'We're getting ripped off, we don't know how much the tickets cost and people are taking our money, but we're just smiles all the way through. Then we get on the ferry and it's hot and sweaty and loud, people are yelling and playing music. We just toughed through it … and it was awesome.' More gratifying times came atop the waves themselves. The surfers stayed at the Point resort and found 'the most perfect' wave with the resort owner, Sloan said. He called the finished film 'amazing.' 'That's the dream that we wanted,' Sloan said. 'It's definitely something people have never seen before … To miss school for a month and go on the best surf trip ever? Sign me up.' The premiere Friday night was successful, with the first showing selling out so a second was added later that night. The surfers thanked their families and also Brett Simpson, a two-time U.S. Open of Surfing champion from Huntington Beach who is now Hurley's head of sports marketing. They hope to hold a screening of 'Genesis' at Huntington Beach High in the future, Guinaldo said.
Los Angeles Times
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach's Ryan Turner, Nea Post inducted into Surfing Walk of Fame as U.S. Open resumes
Ryan Turner said he was raised on Main Street, and that's not too far from the truth. He and his younger brother Timmy would run down the street from the family-owned Sugar Shack Cafe, cross Pacific Coast Highway and head to the ocean. 'This is all I've done my whole childhood, me and my brother running down to the beach and seeing all of the older guys, then finally getting in with everyone and surfing,' Turner said. 'Now it's crazy, it's a full circle with my kids surfing all day. My parents were working all day, and that's what we do. I love this community in Huntington Beach. It supports each other; it's just a rad place.' Turner, the former Huntington Beach High surf team captain, is now immortalized with his own commemorative stone on the sidewalk he used to roam. He was inducted as a Local Hero during the annual Surfing Walk of Fame ceremony Thursday morning in front of Jack's Surfboards. Turner, whose daughter Bailey, 16, is a rising talent in the junior surfing world, had his son Ryder, 14, read his induction speech. Timmy Turner was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in 2016. 'Timmy, he's out there waxing his [stone] every day,' Ryan Turner said with a laugh after the ceremony. 'This is such a huge honor to be up there with these people. There's so many people above me, well deserving, and I'm just so appreciative of it. It's pretty awesome. I can't believe my name is in the sidewalk. My kids are stoked.' Nea Post was another local inducted, as the Woman of the Year. Post graduated from Huntington Beach High School and ended up going to Golden West College and UC Irvine, all the while winning multiple junior competitions and being selected to the U.S. National Team twice, competing alongside Kelly Slater in Japan. Post, now married with two children, still lives in Huntington Beach. She told stories of her time on the team with Slater, only to discover that Slater himself was in attendance at Thursday's ceremony, smiling to her left. 'I stayed committed to my schoolwork, and I'm thankful to be a physician today,' Post said. 'It's a privilege, it's a responsibility that I don't take lightly ... As I think back to [Peter 'P.T.' Townend] as the co-founder of the [National Scholastic Surfing Assn.] and what Andy Verdone has done with the high school surf team, and what I embrace as a pediatrician, it is all about the kids. 'I read a recent statistic that although children comprise 22% of the population, they're 100% of the future.' Barry Kanaiaupuni was inducted as Surf Pioneer, with Al Merrick named the Surf Culture inductee. The late Dale Dobson was inducted as Surf Champion, and Greg Wade was the Honor Role inductee. Townend served as the event emcee. San Clemente's Kai Finn was also recognized as the MacAllister Award winner, receiving a scholarship for $4,000 for his service to the community. The action was busy in the water Thursday after the first day of competition was called off Wednesday due to poor conditions. Eight heats were completed in the men's round of 80, with Kauli Vaast of France among the surfers to move on. Vaast was the gold medal winner at the Paris Olympics last summer, the French Polynesian earning the gold medal at home. He called the conditions Thursday 'small, and not a lot of power on the wave,' but he was able to earn a two-wave score of 8.53 to advance. 'It is what it is,' Vaast said, adding that the cancellation Wednesday didn't really faze him. 'You try to keep the same mentality, keep the same focus from the waiting period until the end of the contest.' Kolohe Andino of San Clemente was also able to advance to the round of 64. The 2020 Olympian's score of 12.00 counted as the third-best score of the round, only bested by Adur Amatriain of Basque Country (13.33) and Shohei Kato of Japan (12.03). The round of 64 is slated to begin first thing Friday, with Nolan Rapoza of Long Beach in the opening heat. Kanoa Igarashi of Huntington Beach, a two-time U.S. Open winner, is in Heat 8 of 16. In the women's competition, the Round of 48 was completed Thursday. Birthday girl Eden Walla of San Clemente, who turned 16 on Thursday, was in a good mood after placing second in her heat to advance. Walla, a wild card into the event, is competing in her first U.S. Open. She said she enjoys the short trip up the coast to Huntington Beach, where she's been surfing in contests since she was 9. 'It could be either really good or really bad,' she said of surfing on her birthday. 'But I made it, so I'm going to be thankful for that, for sure ... I feel like I've been surfing good [this year]. I had a rough end of the year, I didn't end it how I wanted to on the [World Surf League Qualifying Series], but I feel like that really motivated me to get better and work harder.' Sierra Kerr of Australia (12.77) and Amuro Tsuzuki of Japan (12.17) threw down big scores to advance to the women's round of 32 on Friday.
Los Angeles Times
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach High celebrates its 119th graduating class
Jessica Flores was a dedicated member of the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts, multi-sport scholar athlete and more. But more than individual accomplishments, the Huntington Beach High Class of 2025 graduate recognized the power of the Oilers family in more tangible ways. 'I've come to realize that everyone has their own story,' Flores said Wednesday during her student speech at the Huntington Beach High commencement ceremony. 'We all go through hardships and successes. I personally lost someone very important to me one year ago, my dad, and it was by the love from teachers and friends on this campus and God who helped carry me through it.' Huntington Beach celebrated its graduating seniors during the ceremony at 'Cap' Sheue Field, with 686 seniors turning their tassels as part of the school's 119th graduating class. Flores gave her senior speech as a duet with Kai Wong. Another talented senior, Laurel Brookhyser, sang the national anthem. Earlier this year, Brookhyser was named Miss Fountain Valley Teen. Huntington Beach ASB President Emma Trepina served as the master of ceremonies. Four members of the APA Music, Media and Entertainment Technology (MMET) program — Storm Anderson, Owen Mitchell, Jake Young and Talan Carthey — entertained their fellow graduates and the crowd with a rendition of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing.' Huntington Beach Principal Brenna Orr echoed Flores' thoughts about relying on each other for strength, presenting the class for graduation to be accepted by district Board of Trustees member Duane Dishno. — Daily Pilot Staff
