Surfing at San Clemente : Andino Receives Major Penalty, Still Advances

Defending champion Dino Andino of San Clemente survived a major penalty in one of his two heats Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Del Taco/Naugles Surf tournament near the San Clemente pier.

In a fifth-round heat early Saturday, Andino and Australian Mitch Thorson were called for major interference penalties after they tried to catch the same wave midway in the 20-minute heat. A major interference is assessed when a surfer impedes another surfer from riding a wave.

Under Professional Surfing Assn. of America rules, one wave is deducted from the four waves that make up a surfer’s score in a heat when major interference is called.

The call forced Andino, who was leading the heat prior to the infraction, to adopt a strategy designed to prevent Randy Wright of Santa Monica, who was third at the time, from getting any more waves and passing Andino. Only the top two finishers from each heat advance.

“I didn’t want to go into the blocking strategy, but I had to do it,” said Andino. Andino succeeded in preventing Wright from catching any more waves and Andino advanced to the sixth round.

Shane Beschen of San Clemente, who was second before the interference call, went on to win the heat, with Wright finishing third and Thorson fourth.

Later, in a sixth-round heat, Andino and Beschen finished one-two to qualify for the quarterfinals, which start at 9:30 a.m. today. The semifinals and finals also will be today.

“I thank God for having made it through my fifth heat,” Andino said. “Very seldom do you make it through your heat if you get called for major interference.”

Surf Notes

Dino Andino, who finished second to two-time defending PSAA champion Mike Lambresi of Oceanside in the overall standings last year, is one of a group of surfers who could take the lead with a victory in today’s 2:20 p.m. finals. Bud Llamas of Huntington Beach, who was eliminated by Todd Chesser of Honolulu and Doug Silva of Solana Beach in the eighth fifth-round heat, is currently in first place overall with 2,589 points. Chesser is second with 2,442, followed by Andino with 2,309. Silva, who was eliminated when he finished fourth in a sixth-round heat, is fourth with 2,285, followed by Lambresi with 2,126. . . . Another two-time defending PSAA champion, Mike Stewart of Anaheim, and runner-up Ben Severson of Honolulu, will be among those fighting for top honors in today’s bodyboarding quarterfinals. The finals are scheduled at 1:50 p.m.