Generally speaking, a qualifying series in surfing or any other sport is not as exciting to watch as the world championship tour, but I think we may be breaking out of the shackles of that mindset at last.
The last couple of years I’ve added the WSL Challenger Series (the highest level of qualifiers that you have to qualify for through regional events or by virtue of getting dropped from the main tour) and on quite a few occasions I’ve found myself rivetted to the couch from the opening round. The just-concluded Gold Coast Pro at near-perfect Snapper Rocks would be at the top of that list. It had everything – high drama, new blood, grinding barrels, the ongoing ascendancy of the women competitors, judging scandals (we’ll get to that) and old favourites like Sally Fitzgibbons getting right through to finals day with some amazing surfing, and Kelly Slater taking yet another farewell spin around the ballroom, getting knocked out in the first round but melting our hearts in a champ’s expression session.
Above all, the Gold Coast Pro had as its 2024 women’s champion the amazing 16-year-old Erin Brooks. I’ve been watching this little butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth force of nature, born in Texas, living in Hawaii, surfing under the Canadian flag, for quite a while now, knowing she was the coming thing just behind Caity Simmers. But who knew she could swing around behind the rock at Snapper, jag the biggest set wave of the entire event under priority and get completely, utterly barreled for a very long few seconds. If Macy Callaghan’s barrel the day before was worth a 10, this was a 15!
Watching this go down, I was totally mesmerised by the sheer audacity of the move, but not half as much as Coolum’s Isabella Nichols, another brilliant surfer, who held priority and let her go. Bella more or less packed her shooter in its bag and went home right there and then, metaphorically speaking. A fighter and a great sport, Bella was there to chair her little mate off the beach when, of course, Erin won the event an hour or so later. But no shame in third, and Bella will be defending her 2023 title at North Narrabeen this weekend, looking to get a firm grip near the top of the Challenger rankings.
On the men’s side of the draw we saw some brilliant performances from Brazil’s WCT stars Joao Chianca and Sammy Pupo, even though Sammy is fighting for to regain a spot on tour after the midseason cut, and Aussie sensation George Pittar continued his spectacular blitz of the Australian tour, falling just short of a finals berth, alongside Barbados journeyman Josh Burke (who?), a fast, smooth stylist who looked like he’d been taking off behind the Snapper rock his entire life.
And in the end, it came down to Sammy and Mikey McDonagh from Lennox Head, a big-boned streak of a guy who surfs strong and fast and has the full bag of tricks at his disposal. Not to mention the fact that he had brought the entire surfing population of Lennox along to cheer him on. And it worked! While the men’s final copped a squall and didn’t enjoy the immaculate conditions we’d seen all day, it produced another level of surf IQ in both surfers, who found barrels where they didn’t appear to exist, and bounced off the lip while turning straight-handers into makeable waves.
What an event it was.
Judge not, lest ye …
And then there was the judging. Look, surfers have been whining about judging decisions since the first coloured jersey was pulled on and the starter’s gun fired, getting close to 70 years ago in the modern era.
And the more competitors in a heat, the worse the whining gets, understandably, as anyone who has peer-judged in an amateur comp will attest. When there’s a set right before the hooter and six surfers split the peak (I can’t even imagine how it must have been when there were eight, sometimes even 10 surfers in a heat), all hell breaks loose and no one knows what really just happened, not even the head judge, who’s supposed to tell you important things like, “Probably red’s best wave,” so you can check what you gave red earlier and add a point.
In the modern pro surfing context, I noted that a couple of commentators were calling this collusion, which is a bit tough, given that a head judge at every level has always been for guidance. You don’t have to take it, but at the lower levels, most do. Certainly at the highest levels, like the WCT and the Challenger, prize money, sponsorships and careers are on the line so it’s important you get it right, and the more people in the water, the harder that is.
Which brings me to the specific case of the four-man heat in the round of 32 at Snapper when Santa Cruz’s Nat Young was in second (enough to advance) with 90 seconds to go. Last-placed Marco Mignot had ridden a good wave already but the scores were not up. Then third-placed Mikey McDonagh also rode a good wave, but no scores were up as the clock wound down and Nat Young took off, not having a clue what he might need to progress. He belted a succession of smooth off-the-lips which looked pretty good to me, maybe a six, and waited for the outcome. When the score finally appeared, McDonagh had jumped into second behind Frenchman Charly Quivront, meaning they both progressed. Nat’s final wave score of 4.03 left him dead last and packing his bags.
Two questions arose: why did the judges take so long to deliver, and why was Nat scored so low? Answers: Pressure, and, the WSL finally admitted, Nat’s four was a mistake. They changed it to a 5.37 which didn’t change a thing, but at least they apologised.
Tough game, surfing.
