Flora Stays on a Roll in Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY- Ocean City surfer Brad Flora, the current Maryland State Champion, stayed on a major roll last week, winning one major contest in Atlantic City and qualifying for a second, in which he finished in the top five among the 100-plus competitors in the field.

Flora, who won the men’s open division in the Maryland State Championships in Ocean City in September, competed in two major events with national implications last weekend in Atlantic City. In the inaugural Atlantic Surfing Federation contest, Flora finished first in the men’s under-18 division and third in the men’s open division.

Flora’s success in the ASF event earned him a spot in the prestigious Surf America Prime contest, also in Atlantic City on the same weekend. Flora finished an “equal fifth” in the Surf America Prime contest, which features over 100 of the top young surfers on the East Coast, meaning he was just one spot away from going to the contest’s Final Four.

After winning the Maryland state championship in September, Flora toured California and Hawaii and competed in regional contests before returning the east coast for the Atlantic City contests. He is currently preparing for trips to Puerto Rico and Nicaragua. While Flora, who is sponsored by Rip Curl and Chauncey’s Surf Shop, was taking first-, third- and fifth place finishes in Atlantic City, another local surfer, Simon Hetrick, 12, also did Ocean City proud with a fourth-place finish in the under-14 division of the ASF event.