Last weekend was a huge one for competitive surfing across the globe, with the WSL midseason cut running through the heart of the Margaret River Pro in WA, and our local longboarders up against the world’s best at the ISA championships in El Salvador.
Because it’s wrapped up in a box as I write, let’s look at the WSL Pro first, then come back to our guys at the longboard worlds in El Salvador, which is ongoing.
After using up all but the last day of the 11-day waiting period with little to show for it, finals day at pumping Margaret River Main Break proved to be one of the highlights of the 2024 world tour so far, perhaps trumped only by the historic girls day out at massive Pipeline back in January. But with so many careers on the line at Margies, and virtually every heat an emotional crisis for at least one of the competitors, the 18 heats overlapped into one perfect double-overhead day made for compelling viewing. Nine out of 10 days at Margaret River, the afternoon onshore wind would blow a dog off a chain, but last Sunday it puffed just enough to add some delightful texture to the wave face and offer Jack Robinson the opportunity to boost a casual alley-oop above the lip and underline with clarity that this was his day.
Although there were a few potential spoilers in the mix – Hawaii’s dynamic Seth Moniz carving up the face to reach the semis and dodge the cut, and Manly’s wildcard George Pittar surfing the heats of his life to do the same immediately come to mind – it seemed like it was always going to come down to the two titans of sizable Main Break to battle it out. With two WSL world titles and two Margaret River titles under his belt, five years seniority and a wide acknowledgement that he designed the modern approach to riding this break, it would be easy to call John-John Florence the master to Jack’s apprentice in this encounter, but Robinson grew up surfing Margarets, won the event in 2022 and had never been beaten by Florence in a head-to-head.
The clash of the titans was always going to be irresistible, but watching them get there, vanquishing incredibly talented opponents behind curtains of spray, deep barrels and more and more excellent scores – Florence topped 50 for the event – was just as exciting. The final could have been an hour and we would still have wanted more, although right at the end, exhausted and needing a perfect 10 with just minutes to go, John-John seemed to throw in the towel, unthinkable when you know that no surfer on tour was more capable of producing a miracle. Not last Sunday.
On the women’s side we saw Sunny Coasters Isabella Nichols and Sophie McCulloch relegated to the Challenger Tour after missing the cut, along with hugely popular veteran Sally Fitzgibbons, while event favourites Molly Picklum, Tyler Wright and current world number one Caity Simmers all fell to lesser known surfers who were fighting back from the cut-line. In the end it was Californian rookie Sawyer Lindblad up against Hawaiian powerhouse Gabby Bryan, with the Hawaiian clocking a magic moment surfing with dolphins to clinch the win.
Bryan is hard to beat in waves of consequence, but she blotted her copybook for mine in her semi, paddling her opponent Brisa Hennessy up the point for so long they ended up having an eight-minute heat, then claimed it as a winning strategy. It’s the oldest dirty trick in competitive surfing, but it obviously still works.
Our longboarders in Surf City
Meanwhile, at the long righthand point of El Sunzal in Surf City El Salvador, a record-breaking 129 athletes from 39 countries gathered for the the 2024 ISA World Longboard Championships, topping last year’s 118 from 33 nations at the same event.
ISA boss Fernando Aguerre obviously believes there is value in numbers, particularly when his current quest is to get longboarding accepted as an Olympic sport alongside shortboarding. To this end South Korea, Nicaragua, and Wales all their debuts in clean but challenging conditions for the first round.
Hawaii’s Kaniela Stewart was one of the standouts, earning the day-high heat total of 16.5 with an elegant combination of rail work and nose rides. Stewart, a contender for gold in his ISA debut, showed the connection that he has built with El Sunzal after winning the WSL Surf City El Salvador Longboard Classic last year at the same venue.
Previous ISA medallists, France’s Edouard Delpero (15.67), Hawaii’s current world pro champ Kai Sallas (14.93), and Brazil’s Carlos Bahia (14.5), all looked to be medal favorites once again with high heat totals and an excellent-range ride for each. Delpero’s nine point ride was the highest of the day. The top women’s heat total was earned by USA’s Rachael Tilly with 15 points, who previously earned a Silver in 2013 and a Team gold in the event in 2018.
Australia’s Irukandjis team, led by Sunny Coasters and 2023 Australian champions Kirra Molnar and Clinton Guest alongside Sydney’s Tully White and Declan Wyton, got off to a promising start, although by the end of day two Noosa’s longboard queen Kirra was battling a repechage round to stay in the event.
More on that next week.
