Surfing: Battle of the Buffed
By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Alison Osius)

Sunny Garcia hasn't always been what you'd call devout about his off-season training program. But before the 1995 tour, he paired up with fellow Hawaiian John Shimooka to do some buffing-up. In what's become something of a ritual, they now swim, run, and lift weights together nearly every day in hopes of achieving a competitive edge over their slacker opponents. Their program produced immediate dividends at Australia's famed Bell's Beach, where the two 25-year-olds found themselves in the finals of the Rip Curl Pro. "After John won his semifinal I figured I better make the final as well," said Garcia. "I'd been doing just as much working out as he had." In the final round, Shimooka posted a steady opening ride, but Garcia responded by linking spectacular carving turns and scoring a perfect ten. Shimooka wasn't done--he responded with a series of eights--but ultimately Garcia prevailed. Meanwhile, Lisa Andersen continued where she left off last season. The defending world champion ousted Australia's Pauline Menczer for her third victory at Bell's in five years.