![](\"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/uploads\/71354e0e-aa16-e58c.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLOCAL CANADIAN WILDCARD PETER DEVRIES WINS THE INAUGURAL O\u2019NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC CANADA<\/p>\n
THE MOST NORTHERN, THE MOST SOUTHERN, THE WILDEST, THE COLDEST & THE MOST CLASSIC SURF CONTEST ON THE PLANET<\/p>\n
Vancouver Island, Canada, October 31, 2009<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Local Canadian wildcard Peter Devries won the O\u2019Neill Cold Water Classic Canada in an energy fuelled final \u2013 both in the water and out \u2013 against World Tour surfer Jay Thompson in what was a fairytale ending to a week on the wild edges of Canada in Tofino on Vancouver Island.\u201cI cannot believe this. It feels incredible. It\u2019s crazy,\u201d said Peter. \u201cJust to have all these guys here and to come out on top it\u2019s been such an incredible experience this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a story that could almost have been a Hollywood script. Local Tofino surfer, Peter Devries started the week as one of the Canadian wildcards in this 6 Star ASP WQS competition.<\/p>\n
He ended not only a hometown hero, but also now somewhat of a national hero. \u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing week,\u201d said Peter. \u201cBut tomorrow morning I will be up again early walking the dog with my girlfriend \u2013 it will be like any other day.\u201d <\/p>\n
Thousands of people lined the beach to support Peter \u2013 as well as the rest of the surfers \u2013 for the final day of this competition \u2013 the first professional surf contest in Canada. <\/p>\n
Finalist Jay Thompson could hear the cheers from the car park as he was getting ready for his semi final heat. \u201cYou can hear the shouting from everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so great that everyone is behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been such a good week,\u201d said Jay. \u201cIt\u2019s so wild and raw out here. It\u2019s been great to be part of it and to have the support from all the locals. I hope to come back next year for sure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo hear all the guys on the beach when I am surfing a wave or getting a score feels great,\u201d said Peter. \u201cI felt no pressure. I just wanted to surf well. That\u2019s my main thing when I paddle out to go surfing every day and I guess that\u2019s what happened!\u201d <\/p>\n
After being carried up the beach to the award ceremony by hoards of friends and supporters, Peter Devries now walks away with US$20,000 and the trophy of a hand-carved paddle. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a beautiful trophy. I can\u2019t wait to display it,\u201d said Peter. \u201cThis is a piece of history not just for surfing but also for the culture here.\u201d <\/p>\n
His route to the final was no easy road. Peter was up against the on-form Glenn Hall in his quarterfinal heat and then his semi-final saw him in the water with former World Tour surfer and another favourite for this competition \u2013 Cory Lopez. <\/p>\n
The other semifinalist Brandon Jackson \u2013 another warm water fan from Durban, but surfing in a mere 2mm of rubber – was also happy with his result out here in the colds of Canada. \u201cI am so happy to have got this far, but the cold definitely gets a bit tiring by the end!\u201d <\/p>\n
The whole of Tofino lined the beach on this Saturday Halloween producing the biggest crowd ever seen at an O\u2019Neill Cold Water Classic event. <\/p>\n
\u201cI went into our shop this morning and realized that everyone just wanted to be on the beach watching the competition,\u201d said local resident Kati Martini from Remote Passages Whale Watching company. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo I put a sign up on the door which said \u2018Gone to watch the surf comp. Back at 12\u2019 and closed up.\u201d<\/p>\n
VISIT www.oneill.com\/cwc\/canada for more information. <\/p>\n
Follow the competition on www.twitter.com\/oneillcwc or www.facebook.com\/oneill<\/p>\n
CURRENT RANKING LIST: <\/p>\n
Rank
\n Name
\n Nationality
\n Points<\/p>\n
1
\n Blake Thornton
\n AUS
\n 4688<\/p>\n
2
\n Jarrad Howse
\n AUS
\n 4375<\/p>\n
3
\n Adam Melling
\n AUS
\n 3875<\/p>\n
4
\n Jordy Smith
\n ZAF
\n 3875<\/p>\n
5
\n Nathan Hedge
\n AUS
\n 3594<\/p>\n
6
\n Royden Bryson
\n ZAF
\n 3376<\/p>\n
7
\n Damien Fahrenfort
\n ZAF
\n 3313<\/p>\n
8
\n Joan Duru
\n FRA
\n 3250<\/p>\n
9
\n Dion Atkinson
\n AUS
\n 3094<\/p>\n
10
\n Glenn Hall
\n IRE
\n 3063<\/p>\n
Visit www.oneill.com\/cwc for the full rankings list<\/p>\n
All videos, photos and press releases can be downloaded at press.oneill.com<\/p>\n
The documentaries from Tasmania, Scotland and Cape Town on the Cold Water Classic Series are available on O\u2019Neill TV – www.oneilltv.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOCAL CANADIAN WILDCARD PETER DEVRIES WINS THE INAUGURAL O\u2019NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC CANADA THE MOST NORTHERN, THE MOST SOUTHERN, THE WILDEST, THE COLDEST & THE MOST CLASSIC SURF CONTEST ON THE PLANET Vancouver Island, Canada, October 31, 2009 Local Canadian wildcard Peter Devries won the O\u2019Neill Cold Water Classic Canada in an energy fuelled final … Continue reading “LOCAL CANADIAN WILDCARD PETER DEVRIES WINS THE INAUGURAL O\u2019NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC CANADA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-surfing-news-archive","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18050,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13786\/revisions\/18050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}