Encinitas’ Jake Marshall on Sunday won the 2026 Lexus U.S. Open of Surfing, defeating two-time event champion Kanoa Igarashi in an all-Southern California final. On the women’s side, Australia’s Sierra Kerr took home the trophy.

Marshall’s Aug. 2 victory, which garnered him $20,000 in prize money, marks the first time he’s earned a top spot on the podium in a World Surf League-sanctioned competition. Known as the biggest surfing competition in the world, the U.S. Open of Surfing is held annually in Huntington Beach. (Caitlin Simmers, AKA “Oceanside’s pride and joy,” won the women’s bracket in 2021 as a 15-year-old.) 

In a 40-minute final at the south side of the HB pier, Marshall came from behind to beat Igarashi, 14.77 to 14.07.  He surfed with technical precision, showing patience when he needed to, then unleashing his backhand attack and heavy power carves, along with a not-too-shabby above-the-lip game.  

Huntington Beach may call itself “Surf City USA,” but two Encinitas surfers have now won the U.S. Open of Surfing back-to-back: Marshall and, last year, his friend and fellow Encinitas surfer, Levi Slawson. Marshall’s boards (and Igarashi’s not to mention world champ Filipe Toledo’s) are designed and shaped some 20 miles south of Encinitas, by Sharp Eye Surfboards.  

For Marshall, who was born and raised in Encinitas, representing this quintessential surf town on the global stage is a mission he takes seriously. His surfing journey began around age seven when his father, John (now a dentist in Encinitas), first introduced him to the sport at Seaside Reef, in Cardiff by the Sea, alongside his two younger brothers, Nick and Connor. There he also came in contact with and was inspired by Seaside locals like icon Rob Machado.  Marshall dominated the regional ranks as a youth, capturing multiple NSSA National Championships and USA Prime National titles. While he got his feet wet with the WSL’s Qualifying Series, he also took classes at Mira Costa Community College. His wife Amanda Wolff, a registered dietician with Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, also has local roots, earning her Bachelor of Arts from Point Loma Nazarene University.

Marshall’s victory couldn’t have come at a better time. Over the first half of the season, he’d underperformed, falling to his current position of No. 23 in the world. If he could, he’d happily write off the first part of the season, what he called “one of the hardest competitive years of my life.”

Now that the U.S. Open is wrapped up, Marshall, with renewed momentum, joins the world’s best surfers, including Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers and Encinitas’ Alyssa Spencer, for the next stop on the WSL Championship Tour: the Outerknown Tahiti Pro. Marshall will exchange the harmless beach break of Huntington Beach for the fearsome, unforgiving power of Teahupo?o in French Polynesia. The event window for the contest opens this Saturday, Aug. 8. Check the WSL’s website or social media feed for updates on start-date and -time.

Looking ahead, the final CT contest before post-season will happen next month at Lower Trestles, a hop, skip and a jump from Oceanside (It’s also where the surfing portion of the 2028 Olympics will be held). If you’ve never been to a CT contest, this is your chance.

Editor’s Note: Want more? Check out “Titus Got Milk…and Waves” about another Encinitas local who’s charging it, and “Cool couple alert: Chas and Circe and their love affair with North County coastal.”