XYIENCE Power to Win Team Athlete Paul Pugliesi Lands Fourth USA Masters West Coast Title

LAS VEGAS - July 15, 2014 - PRLog -- XYIENCE®, a leading sports nutrition and energy drink brand, announces that XYIENCE Power to Win Team surfing athlete Paul “Pluey” Pugliesi recently earned his third national title sanctioned by Surfing America in June on top of securing his fourth consecutive Western Surfing Association (WSA) USA Masters West Coast title in May, making him the only person in 25 years to have done so.

Pugliesi, who calls Oceanside, Calif., and San Francisco home, didn’t turn pro until he was 21 years old, which is late in life by today’s surfing standards. This makes winning his fourth consecutive USA Masters title all that much sweeter.

Earlier this year, Pugliesi was named to XYIENCE’s inaugural Power to Win Team, comprised of athletes and fitness influencers who share the brand’s commitment to living an exemplary fit and active lifestyle.

“On behalf of the entire XYIENCE team, I want to congratulate Paul on his recent accomplishments,” said John Lennon, XYIENCE president. “We created the XYIENCE Power to Win Team to recognize and support those athletes who live their dreams and pursue their goals in individual lifestyle sports like surfing. Paul truly embodies the ‘power to win’ attitude.”

On May 10, Pugliesi went into the final of the WSA season competition at Church Beach in San Onofre, Calif., with a 3,000-point lead in the Masters 30-39 age category, but needed a win to feel truly deserving of his title clench. And that’s just what Pugliesi did to cap off the WSA season in first place with a total of 12,945 points – a full 2,855 points ahead of the second place finisher.

Then on June 17, at Lower Trestles in San Onofre, Calif., Pugliesi paddled out with three fellow finalists and waited for the horn to blow on the 25-minute final heat in the Surfing America 2014 USA Championships.  Surfing America is the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States, responsible for holding the USA Surfing Championships event each year. A minute later, a nice wave approached and Pugliesi split it with one of the other competitors, rode it, did a few good turns and a snap, kicked out and paddled.  He only got a 4.5 on that one, but stuck to his game plan, scoring a 6.5 and 7.5 on the next waves. It was enough to clench his third consecutive USA Masters Title with a 12.76 final score.

“I want to thank XYIENCE for believing in me.  It feels awesome to set a goal and accomplish it, especially after a third place finish in the first event of the season really fired me up to improve the rest of the year,” says Pugliesi, who is briefly relaxing before he starts to train hard for the new season that kicks off in August.