19-year-old Miguel Pupo Wins the 2011 O'Neill Cold Water Classic

Loud cheers could be heard all around Waddell Creek, as Brazilian prodigy Miguel Pupo put on a dominating performance on the final day of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic.

The day began with the quarterfinals, where Pupo would face off against local favorite Nat Young. The waves were not ideal for competition, but Pupo managed to put together two waves scoring a 9.57, destroying Nat Young’s dreams of winning his second Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz.  Miguel Pupo would kept his firing momentum through the semifinals with another win and found himself not only in the finals, but also in contention for the Cold Water Classic series bonus of $50,000.

With a fifth place finish in New Zealand and a no show in Scotland, Miguel Pupo had no clue that he would be in contention for the series championship and bonus prize. After winning his semifinal heat, he then found out that if he won the finals, he was crowned  champion over fellow Brazilian Willian Cardoso, who tied for third with South African Jordy Smith at the event.

 After winning his semifinal heat, Portuguese surfer and world ranked number 20, Tiago Pires, opted to go straight into the finals without a break to keep his momentum going. This was no help as Miguel Pupo set the pace in the poor surf, catching his first wave within the first few minutes and putting up a score of 5.67. Pupo continued to dominate the final with impressive airs and powerful turns giving him a two wave combined score of 18.93 out of 20 over Tiago Pires’ 11.20.

The 19-year-old Brazilian took the WQS Prime win and his $90,000 payday, $40,000 for the event and $50,000 for the series winner bonus. As happy as he is to win the money, Pupo said the confidence he gained from this win is most important as he plans to surf in the World Championship Tour in San Francisco next week.