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Jacob Szekely may have just set a record. “We Made History Today,” wrote the La Jolla native on Instagram, “First ever board transfer in a WSL event.”
The transfer in question took place at the SLO Cal Open Pismo Beach, a WSL North America Qualifying Series event worth 3,000 points. During his round of 64 heat, Szekely paddled out on a soft-top, which he used to step off onto his shortboard.
The commentators were at first amused by the stunt and stated that only the shortboard portion of Zeke’s ride would be scored. However, the mic cut out a few times, presumably as they consulted with the judging staff, and they returned to say that the entire ride would be disqualified. “Rule book states ‘no two pieces of equipment,’ so that wave won’t be scored,” they clarified, “But it was fun for us, fun for the fans.”
Szekely good-naturedly protested the ruling, using Air Bud logic to defend his case: “I read the whole rule book and couldn’t find anything about it in the rules, but all good,” he continued on the post “I still made the heat, and I’m into round four tomorrow!”
He may actually be right, as the official 2024 rule book doesn’t seem to have any specific guidance on the amount of boards a surfer is allowed to take into a heat, just a blanket ruling that “Surfers may be denied the ability to use certain equipment while competing in Events (i.e., no SUPs, paddles or surf skis) by the Office of Tours and Competition.”
Sure, it was probably a 2.5-point ride at best, but he earned the hell out of those points.
