On September 11, the 18th day of the eighth lunar month, the 3rd Red Bull Qiantang River Surfing Competition reached its ultimate showdown on the day the Qiantang Tide was at its most powerful. In the end, the U.S. Hawaii team outperformed the Australian Queensland team to take the title. During the competition, the Hawaiian team’s star rider Jamie O'Brien launched from a wave over 4 meters high, delivering a vertical aerial maneuver that scored 9.5 points—one of the two highest scores of the event—leading his team to victory. He also shared the “Best Performance Award” with China Hangzhou team’s Phillip Macdonald. The China Hangzhou team, home to “China’s First Qiantang River Surfer” Chen Dongming, secured third place, while the U.S. California team finished fourth.
The U.S. Hawaii team also set the tone for the match’s progression with their spectacular performance on that wave, ultimately scoring 72.85 out of a possible 90 points and finishing well ahead of the Australian Queensland team to claim the championship. At the awards ceremony, O'Brien and Sterling hung the medal, shaped like the event logo, around their necks and celebrated wildly, waving the winner’s check. The winning hero O'Brien excitedly said, “It was incredible ! It's been a while since I had such an exciting competition — this will be one of the most unforgettable moments of my life.” His teammate Sterling even declared their intention to return next year to Hangzhou to defend their title: “We have to come back. We want to protect our glory.”
At the awards ceremony, Peter Townend, the overall planner of the event, also announced the final rankings for the two teams that did not advance from the preliminaries. The China Hangzhou team took third place, and the U.S. California team came in fourth. Although they didn’t make it to the finals, both riders from the China Hangzhou team achieved something notable: Phillip Macdonald shared the “Best Performance Award” with O'Brien, while Chen Dongming etched his name into the history of river surfing. Prior to this competition, he and Inner Mongolia’s Tiedzhuang underwent three days of training and selection. Ultimately, Chen stood out due to his excellent jet ski driving skills and steady performance on the waves, becoming “China’s First Qiantang River Surfer.” In an interview, he said: “I’m truly honored to have had the opportunity to compete in the Qiantang River Surfing Competition. I’m very satisfied with my performance in this event, but I also clearly saw the gap. I will keep improving myself, and I hope more Chinese can participate in Qiantang River surfing so that the world’s top surfers can see that Chinese can surf just as well.”
Equally thrilled after the victory of the U.S. Hawaii team were the judges, including head judge Donny. He stated outright that the quality and entertainment value of this year’s competition reached new heights compared to previous years. He said: “First, the conditions of the Qiantang Tide this year were ideal—the big waves on the final day were the best we’ve seen in years. During the competition, we even spotted tube waves, which are rare even in ocean surfing, multiple times. Additionally, this year’s field featured some of the most skilled and competitive athletes. The eight riders all had unique strengths and were evenly matched, delivering absolutely phenomenal performances on the waves. You even saw our ‘Best Performance Award’ being shared by two riders. Without a doubt, this was a perfect competition.”
As the overall planner of the 3rd Red Bull Surfing Competition, Townend is already looking forward to next year’s event. He said: “This year, we adopted a city-versus-city format, and the sense of pride in representing one’s city further fueled the riders’ fighting spirit. I hope that next year, more world-renowned surfing destinations will send athletes to join us. Also, this year, Chen Dongming became ‘China’s First Qiantang River Surfer.’ For the first time, a Chinese surfer rode the Qiantang Tide. Of course, we hope to see more Chinese athletes take part, but due to comprehensive considerations including safety, there was only one competing slot this year. Next year, if possible, we’d love to see Chinese athletes like Chen Dongming and Tiedzhuang form their own team and compete independently.”
