All is relatively quiet at the Oceanfront now, but that will change Wednesday.
Beach chairs, sunbathers and umbrellas will make way for contest scaffolding, spon sor tents and a soundstage. Joggers and beach cruisers will yield to 5K runners, triathlon athletes, professional volleyball players and extreme sports daredevils.
The East Coast Surfing Championships and Beach Sports Festival return for a 45th year, b ringing an extended weekend of sun-drenched festivities to 11 blocks along the Boardwalk. The action, starting at First Street, runs through Aug. 26.
Event director Myron Nahra said a visit to this year's ECSC will take a "day at the beach" to another level.
"That's why we like to call it a sports festival," Nahra said of the Virginia Beach Jaycees-produced event. "There's something for everyone in the family."
Although ancillary events such as concerts, the Pro/Am volleyball tournament and the swimsuit competition make ECSC an all-around beach festival, surfing is still at the event's core.
Nearly 250 professional surfer s will hit t he waves at the First Street jetty for the Association of Surfing Professionals's two-star World Qualifying Series even t, which features $40,000 in winn ings.
Headlining the professional field of this year's ECSC are Brazilians Jadson Andre and Miguel Pupo. Neither have cr acked the top 200 in WQS ratings. But ECSC surf director Paul West said these rising junior shredders have the potential to become world champions within the next five years.
