The break of the waves, the swells and the unpredictable nature of the central coast have made Braden Jones and Sam Moore the local surfers standing out in this week’s SLO CAL Open in their hometown Pismo Beach.
“When you live here, you just learn to love it," 20-year-old Sam Moore explained. "It's very unique.”
24-year-old Jones made his debut on the WSL tour when he was 15, which at the time was the biggest part of his life.
“I just grinded every weekend, doing contests, training, getting coaches,“ Jones remembered.
With his successes on the junior tour and events like the SLO CAL Open in Pismo Beach and Morro Bay, people like Moore who grew up watching Jones' progression, wanted to be like him. Both live and are from the Five Cities area which allowed for Jones to help Moore along his surfing journey.
“He's been a really good coach and a mentor," Moore said. "I'm pretty much trying to follow him. He's a good role model.”
But there’s more to Jones than just the water. At 18-years-old, there was also a fire to be something else.
“I started at 18 and took classes at the fire academy and then finally got hired [last year]. I can still surf and do some contests as well. That's why I love working as a firefighter.”
Now one full year working for the Five Cities Fire Authority, Jones has his dream job, gets to continue his love of surfing and do it all in the place he’s grown up in.
“I'm super happy to able to spend time with my family, I'm able to surf and I get to go to work and I love my job too. "Everything is coming together right now.”
For Moore, who is a student Cal Poly, the world is still his oyster in the sport.
“The improvement just kind of comes. I'm just going to keep doing it for fun. As I keep improving, hopefully keep going up in competitions.”
Both Jones and Moore earned third place in their heat in their first day failing to advance to the Round of 32. Moore finished with a score of 8.70 and Jones finished with a 12.43. Jones has two third-place finishes in the SLO CAL Open throughout his career.
