At almost exactly the time that British Prime Minister Liz Truss was being informed of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, our seven-times world surfing champion Steph Gilmore was waxing her board at Lower Trestles, California, before paddling out for the first heat of the greatest day of her stellar surfing career.
By the end of the day, we could truly say, the Queen is dead, long live the Queen!
Although, like Steph, I was no great fan of the World Surf League’s final five playoffs series, introduced last year, by the end of a long night and early morning watching the action from California on the box, I had to admit that the format produced a horribly compelling day of surfing, reminiscent of the dancing marathons of the 1930s, as depicted in the film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
For Steph and Brazil’s Italo Ferreira, the marathon of the WSL one-day finals involved surfing for almost three hours in five high pressure heats separated by only 35 minutes of rest time. Now surfing five heats in a day is certainly not unheard of in amateur competition, but placing such a physical and mental strain on professionals competing at the highest level is rare, particularly when the stakes are a world title and a lot of money.
In Steph Gilmore’s case, the pressure was monumental, for not only was she just an outside chance for a world title, but the unlikely event of winning it would make her, statistically at least, the greatest female surfer of all time – the GFOAT, if you will – having overtaken Layne Beachley’s long-held record of seven world titles, which Steph has shared for a long time.
In fact, at 34 and with career interests in music and film, she might understandably have said enough is enough and bowed out on lucky seven, but that’s not Steph’s style. And why walk away when you’re still capable of career-best performances? Which is what she needed to do to win at Trestles last week.
Fool that I am, I forced myself out of bed soon after the finals began in the middle of the night our time, but not soon enough to see Steph falter in her first heat against world number four, Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy. (Catching up with it later on replay, I noted that Steph looked nervous and uncertain of the lineup in the early morning grey. But she pulled herself together to fight her way out of combo and progress.)
Watching Steph’s next heat live was a revelation. She was on fire, never giving an in-form Tatiana Weston-Webb a chance. Lowers was a pretty dreary shoulder-high most of the time, coming to life a bit with the promised but irregular hemi-swell sets. But Steph made it glow – smooth takeoffs, powerful and graceful forehand turns and gouging cutbacks, on song every wave. Against France’s excellent Johanne Defay in the next she was even more dominating, crushing one of my favourite female surfers who isn’t Steph.
And then it was on to the potential three-setter against world number one, the seemingly unbeatable Carissa Moore, for the 2022 world title. When they appeared on Chris Cote’s ridiculous apron-of-the-ring set, so he could say, “Ladeez and gentlemen, surfing for the championship of the world,” like a lot of people, I was tempted to say to myself, well Steph, you gave it a great shot, no shame there. Then I looked at her eyes.
Carissa Moore is a brilliant, worthy multiple world champion, and Steph made her look out of her depth, not up to the challenge. Unbelievable. Straight sets.
Exhausted, joyful, tearful, Steph paddled over to WSL water reporter Strider Wozz and let out the biggest crow call for all the world to hear. In a career of great moments, this was her greatest.
So the men’s, ahem. Our boys Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing, both brilliant all season and sitting at two and three respectively, surfed once each and went home without ever threatening the rampaging Ferreira. But it was not to be Italo’s day either. The surf was made to order for Filipe Toledo and he never faltered, taking a well-deserved and overdue maiden world title in straight sets.
It was his day too, but in my eyes, it will always belong to Steph.
FOOTNOTE: If you missed out on the Salty Brains Surf Trivia night at Land & Sea Brewery last month, do yourselves a favour, as Molly used to say, and get along to this month’s event. This is a night of fun with lots of your favourite surf stars and trivia experts, in aid of an excellent cause, Belinda Baggs’ Surfers For Climate, who are making waves about this vital issue right across the country this spring.
Upcoming Thursday Salty Brains Surf Trivia nights at Land & Sea:
22 September, 20 October and 24 November. $12 single ticket/$50 season ticket. Over $1000 in raffle prizes. To register, visit events.humanitix.com/salty-brains-surftrivia-at-land-and-sea-brewery-noosa-august-to-december
