UPDATE: Event is ON NOW LIVE

TEAHUPOO, Tahiti (Tuesday, May 19, 2009) – The Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui, event No. 3 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, has called competition on today, with a champion being crowned by day’s end, conditions permitting.

This morning’s surf is running in the three-to-five foot (1- 1.5 metre) range and the opening heats of the day will hit the water at 8:30am.

“We have clear skies and similar sized surf to yesterday and we’ll get competition underway at 8:30am,” Luke Egan, Billabong Pro Tahiti Contest Director, said. “We’re planning on completing the event today, but will monitor the conditions throughout the day to ensure the athletes are run in the best possible surf.”

Yesterday saw the surprise eliminations of reigning nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, and current ASP World No. 1 Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, at the hands of Aritz Aranburu (EUK), 23, and Taylor Knox (USA), 38, respectively.

Still remaining in the event are past Billabong Pro Tahiti winners Damien Hobgood (USA), 29, and Bobby Martinez (USA), 26, as well as former ASP World Champions Mick Fanning (AUS), 27, Andy Irons (HAW), 30, and C.J. Hobgood (USA), 29 – both Irons and Hobgood are also past winners at Teahupoo, with Fanning a former runner-up.

First up this morning, former three-time ASP World Champion and event wildcard Irons will take on Martinez in Heat 5 of Round 3 at the Billabong Pro Tahiti.

Surfline, official foreers for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for a larger SE groundswell to fill in throughout the day as well as some new SW swell building through today and tomorrow.

Today’s Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui will be web LIVE via www.billabongpro.com ning at 8:30am.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

YESTERDAY’S BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.50 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 6.17
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.04 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 9.40
Heat 3: Mick Campbell (AUS) 15.07 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 8.50
Heat 4: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.46 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5.57

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 7: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Tom Whitaker (AUS)

UPCOMING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF 2: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
QF 3: TBA
QF 4: TBA

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It has all the ingredients of the perfect Aussie tale: a swimming kangaroo, a hero surfer, and two hungry hammerhead sharks.

An early morning jog with his son along a Queensland beach on Tuesday turned into a life-saving mission for Australian entrepreneur John McCallum, when a small kangaroo bounded in front of him and jumped straight into the sea.

“Suddenly at the waters edge he just dives into the ocean and starts swimming out to sea, it was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen, we were totally dumbfounded,” Mr McCallum told The Times.

“A man was walking past and he said to me: ‘Gee your dog’s swimming out a long way’, and I said: ‘that’s not a dog, mate, it’s a kangaroo’.”

Within minutes the kangaroo was caught in a dangerous ocean rip, about 200 yards offshore. As he watched, Mr McCallum remembered there had been two hammerhead sharks sighted off the beach, on the Gold Coast in southern Queensland, earlier in the week.

“I realised if we didn’t do something, that little roo would either drown or become lunch for some big hungry fish,” he said.

So he decided to act fast. He ran back to the family home, situated further up Kirra Beach, grabbed his surfboard and headed back to rescue the roo – but not before waking his wife and asking her to grab the video camera.

“I tried to get the kangaroo on my board a few times but he slipped off, so then I herded it over to a sand bar and he hopped through the water,” Mr McCallum, 48, said.

“When he finally got back to the beach he just collapsed, the poor thing had been swimming for 20 minutes and was absolutely exhausted. But after a while he got back up and bounded back off down the beach – but not before he looked back at me, staring at me straight in the eyes, as if to say: ‘thanks for that mate’. Or maybe he was saying: ‘you just wrecked my morning swim’.”

Kangaroo expert Pat O’Brien, from the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, said the fact that the bush-dwelling marsupials can swim is a well-kept secret.

He said during the recent floods in Queensland a kangaroo was found by fishermen swimming seven miles offshore after being swept out to sea by floodwaters.

“They are actually very good swimmers and even though people might not see it, they seem to go swimming quite often,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Sometimes they appear to go into water so they can get rid of ticks, but we have also found that they go into the water fairly frequently and sometimes they seem to just like to go swimming to get from A to B.”

Despite their large, bottom-heavy size, the marsupials appear to be quite powerful swimmers – both in freshwater and in the ocean. They use their small arms to perform a dog paddle-style stroke while paddling underwater with their strong hind legs.

“I’m sure their big tail would be good for steering too,” Mr O’Brien joked.

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NEW YORK SURF FILM FESTIVAL DROPS IN AGAIN AT TRIBECA CINEMAS
SEPTEMBER 25th to 27th, 2009

Submissions Deadline Closing May 31, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14th, 2009, New York, NY – The second annual New York Surf Film Festival will return to Tribeca Cinemas September 25th to 27th, 2009. Located in lower Manhattan, Tribeca Cinemas is an art?house rental theater in operation since 2004. The theater hosts between 12?15 film festivals annually including Tribeca Film Festival, Brazilian Film Festival and the NYC Horror Film Festival. In addition, Tribeca Cinemas hosts a variety of private tastemaker screenings and events throughout the year.

Keith Weckstein, Director of Operations at Tribeca Cinemas said, “Tribeca Cinemas is
stoked to be the host venue of the New York Surf Film Festival for the second straight
year. Once again we’re excited to be able to welcome the Festival’s attendees and
guests to the venue and make sure everyone has a positive experience.” Tyler Breuer,
NYSFF Co?Founder adds, “It’s an honor for us to hold our festival in such an iconic
theater. After having such an incredible first year, it’s really hard to imagine doing the
festival anywhere else. ”

The submissions deadline is 17 days away, closing May 31st, 2009. The New York Surf
Film Festival Competition is open to independently produced feature?length and short
films in the surf genre. In order to be considered for the Festival’s Film Competition for
U.S and International films, submitted films must have been completed after January 1,
2004. The running time for features must be greater than 30 minutes. Short films under
30 minutes in length are eligible for participation in the Shorts Program. The submission
form and complete information regarding eligibility and entry rules for the 2009 New
York Surf Film Festival are available on the New York Surf Film Festival website at
www.NYSurfFilm.com.

Support our 2008 Filmmakers! The NYSFF DVD Store is now open on our site.

Show your support and get up?to?date festival news by becoming a Fan of NYSFF on our Facebook Page. Email info@nysurffilm.com if you would like to volunteer for
2009.

New York Surf Film Festival
The New York Surf Film Festival is the premier showcase for international independent surf film.
The mission of the New York Surf Film Festival is to provide filmmakers who are exploring the
diversity of surfing an opportunity to present their work to a larger audience. As surf culture
becomes more popular, the notion of what it means to be a surfer expands. The New York Surf
Film Festival’s aim is to build upon and shape the idea of what a surf film is, while fostering the
growth of this global community in NYC.

NYSFF is proudly supported by NewYorkSurf.com, Sundown Surfshop, Surfersvillage, Downtown
Community Television Center, The Surfer’s Path and STAB magazine.

For submission, media, and sponsorship inquiries please contact:

Morgan Rae Berk
morgan@nysurffilm.com
917.658.2927
Don’t Drop In, LLC
P.O. Box 310361
Brooklyn, NY 11231