Dustin Cuizon received his Father's Day gift a day early yesterday.

Cuizon, who is expecting a baby son to be born this week, won the T&C Surf/Surfer Magazine Air Invitational at the "Queen's" break off Kuhio Beach, Waikiki.

"Perfect timing," said Cuizon, holding his $1,000 winner's check. "The baby is due any day now, any moment."

The Air Invitational is unique in that it rewards only aerial surfing maneuvers. Standard moves like cutbacks, barrel rides, and floaters are not scored.

The event was completed in 1- to 3-foot waves.

"This is more of a fun thing," said Cuizon, who is from 'Ewa Beach. "You just go out there and try whatever you can. It's mostly for the kids to watch."

Cuizon's pregnant girlfriend, Meagan Diott, and their 1 1/2-year-old daughter Zaisha attended yesterday's contest.

Cuizon, 22, normally competes on surfing's World Qualifying Series, but he returned to O'ahu last week to be with his family. "I'm on a little break until next month," he said.

Cuizon won the Air Invitational seven years ago when he was still in high school and an amateur surfer.

"That's a long time; I was 15 the last time I won it," he said. "One of the reasons why I like to do this contest is I never get to surf Queen's anymore."

Cuizon was the only surfer to consistently complete his aerial maneuvers in the four-man final. In order to receive a high score, the surfer must rise above the wave, and make a successful landing.

Cuizon received scores of 8.0 and 7.0 for his two best waves in the final.

"Today was hard because the wind was blowing offshore," he said. "But I got lucky with a couple."

Derek Wong, a senior-to-be at Roosevelt High, said he surprised himself by placing second. Wong, who is 17 and still an amateur, said he could not complete an aerial maneuver until a year ago.

"I was stoked just to get the call to be in the event," he said. "I just started doing airs last year, so I'm super happy with second."

Kawika Stillwell from Kaua'i placed third, and Tyler Crawford from the Big Island was fourth.

The Air Invitational was a sideshow for the T&C Surf Grom Contest. More than 100 youth surfers age 14 and younger are participating in the two-day Grom Contest.

Youth surfers ranked in the top 12 of the local amateur organizations are not allowed to enter.

"It gives the children who are not rated, and maybe who are not used to surfing in a final, a chance to compete and feel what it's like to win a contest," contest director Lani Isherwood said. "That was (T&C Surf owner) Craig Sugihara's original concept 10 years ago, and we've been doing it every year since."

Lynn Blomfield of Hale'iwa registered two of her children — Keone, 10, and Honolua, 8 — for the contest because she knew it would be a fun experience for them.

"This contest gives them a chance," she said. "They're not at the level of some of the other kids who surf in the bigger contests, so this one is not as intimidating."

And it's not to say that the surfers in this weekend's Grom Contest can not blossom into ranked surfers in the future. Just ask Derek Wong.

He said the T&C Grom Contest was the first surfing event he ever entered seven years ago. Next week, he will represent Hawai'i at the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) National Championships at San Clemente, Calif.

"This was the contest that got me started," he said.

The Grom Contest will conclude today, with finals in divisions for bodyboarding, shortboard surfing and longboard surfing. The surfers who do not make the finals can still win prizes through random drawings.

"We want this to be a fun contest for all the kids," Isherwood said. "And if some of them want to keep going in the sport, great."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.