Number three stop on the WSL world tour at Supertubos, Peniche, Portugal had its moments but ended with a whimper rather than a bang last weekend, further fuelling the argument that the tour should have been in Queensland, where the water was a lot warmer and the surf was pumping.
Certainly that was the view that Kelly Slater took, announcing himself a no-show on the first day of competition due to continued aggravation following hip surgery, then turning up a couple of days later to rip the bag out of sizeable, perfect Kirra in a session shared miraculously with only a few other surfers of his caliber. There’s some video doing the rounds at the moment that seems to place firmly in the porkies basket the GOAT’s claim to be nursing a hip injury. In fact the trademark roundhouse cutback he executes after a deep double barrel reveals him to be at the top of his game, so what’s he playing at?
At 52 and having broken every sporting record for excellence and longevity, Kelly can of course do precisely whatever he likes, and he does and I respect him for that. Furthermore, he is still such great box office that the WSL is likely to keep throwing wildcards at him regardless of whether he shows up or not.
Slater’s last minute withdrawal gifted the wildcard to 17-year-old Peniche local Matias Canhoto, who was over-awed but showed some flair. But if he was always going to skip it, wouldn’t you think that Kelly would have given enough notice to allow a Challenger contender to fly in for it? Yeah, me too. But enough GOAT-bashing. With two lasts and a no-show in the events so far, he’s going to need a miracle on the Australian leg to survive the midseason cut (if indeed it applies) but miracles are what Kelly specialises in. Witness that roundhouse at Kirra last week.
Getting back to finals day at Peniche, after watching the men’s quarters and women’s semis, I saw it going to Medina and Tyler Wright, both of them on song, so when the WSL called a lengthy low tide break, I went to bed, only to wake up next morning and discover I was naught from two. Tyler had no answer to Johanne Defay’s exceptional backhand attack in messy but rippable waves. And, having seen off Medina by the slimmest of margins in his semi, San Clemente Two-Percenter Griff Colapinto smashed an out-of-sorts Ethan Ewing.
Colapinto comes to Bells in the yellow jersey with Ethan hot on his heels at two and Jack Robinson at four on the rankings, both of the Aussies looking like final five certainties. In the women’s Molly Picklum holds onto the yellow with Defay at two. Our next best Aussie is Tyler at eight and heading north, while Bella Nichols and Sally Fitzgibbons are both behind the cut-line, but only just. It’s shaping for an interesting home season.
O’Leary-San defects
The little I know of Connor O’Leary I really like, so I’m not going to jump on him for surfing for Japan in the coming Olympics. I believe he takes his Japanese heritage seriously, courtesy of his mother, who surfed for her native country back in the day, and if he medals in Tahiti – as well he might, being a big, powerful and fearless goofy – he’ll stand proudly on the podium wearing the colours of his adopted country.
He won’t be the first or last sportsperson to take an opportunity presented by bloodlines, but I just wish he was surfing for us! I’ve watched his surfing continue to progress in recent years and it’s great to see him doing well on the WSL. On the couple of occasions I’ve interviewed him in panel discussions at events I’ve been impressed by the Cronulla kid’s warm nature, quick wit and sense of fun. So I wish him well, but I wish he hadn’t. Does that make sense?
