Tia Blanco, Zeke Lau win ABC's 'Ultimate Surfer'

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Zeke Lau and Tia Blanco were crowned the winners of ABC's competition series, The Ultimate Surfer, Tuesday night.

Lau and Blanco took home $100,000 each and secured wild card spots to compete on the World Surf League Championship Tour. They beat out fellow finalists Koa Smith and Brianna Cope for the honor.

"The Ultimate Surfer gathered 14 of the world's greatest up-and-coming surfers to train and live together as they battled it out at the World Surf League's state-of-the-art Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif., powered by Kelly Slater's human-made wave technology, in the hope of competing amongst the best athletes in the world's fastest-growing sport," the network said in a synopsis.

Former NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer was the show's host, while sports anchor Erin Coscarelli and professional surfing announcer Joe Turpel served as commentators.

Slater was lead consultant and special correspondent on the series.