Surf Park Summit Announces More Speakers (and Approaches Capacity)

The Surf Park Summit is approaching rapidly and the latest speaker lineup includes an impressive variety of experts.

For those interested in the latest from the leaders in wave pool technology, most of the major innovators will be on hand including Surf Loch, American Wave Machines, KSWC, Surf Lakes and Webber Wave Pools. According to conference organizers, Surf Loch will be presenting some particularly newsworthy information.

Leading surf park developers, including big pioneers like URBNSURF, The Wave, DSRT Surf and Beach Street Development will share insights from their experiences. Cheyne Magnusson of Palm Spring Surf Club (and former wave architect at BSR Surf Resort) and Mike Culpepper from Atlantic Park will share their stories as well.

Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist who brought Apple Computers to market in the 80’s, advised Google, and fell in love with surfing at the age of 50 will share his insights on surf park evangelism.

Five former world surfing champions will also present and participate: PT Townend (1976), Shaun Tomson (1977), Fred Hemmings (1968), Debbie Beacham (1982), CJ Hobgood (2001) and 1976 runner up and founder of the Association of Surfing Professionals, Ian Cairns.

Topics

The Surf Park Summit will go well beyond wave pool technology and development into adjacent topics that will feed a variety of curious minds. Chris Cote, the host of WSL Surf Breaks, board sports encyclopedia and musician will MC the 2-day event and lead the audience through a program that touches on surfing in the Olympics, water quality legislation, financing, surf coaching and culture. Topics will include:

Women in surf parks – will surf parks change the male-heavy surfing demographics? 

Surf culture and authenticity in surf parks – how can surf parks create authentic surf cultures?

Surf park safety legislation – what role will the government play in keeping surf parks safe?

Water safety and filtration – what are the requirements and state-of-the-art filtration systems?

Risk management and safety – what are the considerations for insurance?

Surf park design – when designing a surf park, what are the most important considerations?

Coaching and competition – what does the future of coaching and competition in wave pools look like?

Finance – how do you successfully finance a surf park?

Surf park management and operations – so you built a surf park, but how do successfully operate it?

Sustainability and environmental risks – what can surf parks do to minimize environmental impact and encourage sustainability?

Science of wave making – how do physics and fluid dynamics work together to make wave pools work?

Winners of the inaugural Surf Park Awards will also be announced at the Surf Park Summit. Award categories include Best Maneuver, Best Surf Park for Learning, Best Air Wave, Best Barrel and more.

Speakers

The topics above will be covered by panels and individuals with a variety of experience and expertise.  Speakers and panelists include:

• Fernando Aguerre, International Surfing Association, President
• Anthony Brown, Ocean Sports Development, Founder and Chairman
• Glenn Brummage, Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, President
• Ian Cairns, Surf Legend, first Director of the Association of Surfing Professionals
• Ian Calderon, California State Assembly District 57, Majority Leader
• Allen Clawson, Cloward H2O, Principal
• Greg Cruse, USA Surfing, CEO
• Mike Culpepper, Venture Realty Group & Atlantic Park, Managing Member
• Tony Finn, BSR Surf Resort, UNIT Surf Pools & Co-Founder of Liquid Force
• Nick Franklin, Kelly Slater Wave Company, President
• Fred Hemmings, 1968 World Surfing Champion, Founder of Professional Surfing
• Ru Hill, Surf Simply, Founder & Owner
• Nick Hounsfield, The Wave, Bristol, Founder
• Jim Kempton, California Surf Museum, President
• Carl Kish, STOKE, Co-Founder and CEO
• Andrew Limbocker, EPR Properties, VP Recreation Investment Group
• Tom Lochtefeld, Surf Loch, Founder & CEO
• Dave Likins, Beach Street Development & DSRT Surf, Partner
• Mike Lopez, American Wave Machines, VP
• John Luff, Surf Park Summit Co-Founder, Surf Park Central Founder, Beach Street Development & DSRT Surf, Partner
• Rob Machado, Pipeline Masters Champion, Environmental Activist, Surfboard Designer, Rob Machado Foundation
• Cheyne Magnusson, Palm Springs Surf Club, Partner & Former GM at BSR Surf Resort
• Shaw Mead (Managing Director) & Ed Atkin (Director), eCoast
• Tasha Mentasti, Surf Therapist, Co-Founder SurfX
• Chad Nelson, CEO Surfrider Foundation
• Fernando Odriozola, Wavegarden, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer
• Wayne Olson, City of Palm Desert, Senior Development Analyst
• Reece Pacheco, WSL, VP Ocean Responsibility, ED WSL PURE
• Patti Paniccia, Surfing Legend, Former Pro Surfer, Founder of Professional Surfing Tour (IPS)
• Dev Pathik, Sports Facilities Advisory, Founder & CEO
• Jess Ponting, Center for Surf Research, Director; Surf Park Summit & STOKE, Co-Founder
• Kris Primacio, International Surf Therapy Organization, ED
• Dave Prodan, World Surf League, SVP Global Brand Identity
• Andrew Ross, URBNSURF Australia, Founder & Executive Director
• Doug Sheres, DSRT Surf & Beach Street Development, Partner
• Sebastian Smith, STORE Capital, Managing Director
• Shelby Stanger, Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast Creator and Host
• Sean Swentek, A Walk on Water Surf Therapy, Executive Director
• Izzy Tihanyi, Surf Diva Inc, CEO / Founder
• Peter ‘PT’ Townend, 1976 World Surfing Champion, Surfing Legend
• Aaron Trevis, Surf Lakes, Founder & CEO
• Greg Webber, Webber Wave Pools, Founder
• Ron Williams, City of Virginia Beach, Deputy City manager
• Sean Young, Wavegarden, Head of Development Projects

The organizers plan to release a complete and finalized program shortly. Stay tuned and subscribe or follow us on social media for updates.

Logistics and Attendance

The Surf Park Summit takes place on March 31st and April 1st at the beautiful Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla, CA. If you want to attend in person, don’t hesitate. The Surf Park Summit is close to selling out. Standard registration costs $1500 and VIP costs $2000. w