I’ve mentioned before in this space that in recent seasons I’ve seen some of the most exciting, moving and compelling scenes in pro surfing not on the WSL Championship Tour but on the highest rung of the qualifying events, the Challenger Series.
Of course, nothing will beat seeing the top girls going hard at big Pipeline or the best of the best men taming perfect Cloudbreak, but the Challenger is the place if you like a side of raw emotion with your airs, barrels, gouges and railwork.
And nowhere is this truer than in the last of the six-event series, when for some kids on the way up and champs on the way back, everything is on the line – career, future, financial security, even self esteem.
At last week’s Saquarema Pro in Brazil, a place whose sand banks can often be fickle and difficult to predict, conditions remained around the shoulder to head-high mark with the onshores keeping light over five straight days of competition, providing a pretty good canvas to pull out all the stops to qualify for the pinnacle, a spot on the big tour, or second best, a finish high enough to requalify for next year’s Challenger, without having to fight your way through the regionals.
But for every triumphant winner there’s a valiant but possibly tearful loser. The drama of that scenario was nowhere more evident than at the last WCT event before the mid-season cut at Margaret River earlier this year, when Brazilian star Sammy Pupo surfed against his older brother and mentor Miguel, beat him in a close decision and saw him relegated to the Challenger.
If, like me, you were watching, you will never forget the image of Sammy bawling in the competitors area, like a scene from a Shakespearian tragedy, which it kinda was. Anyway, Sammy was there to cheer his bro on when Miggy requalified at Saquarema last week.
The two Australian women who personify the true spirit of the qualifying battler had both secured their places back on the 2025 WCT the week before in Portugal, but Sally Fitzgibbons and Coolum’s Isabella Nichols were all smiles on the beach for their team-mates in Saquarema and guns blazing in the water.
This was the second time for both, clawing back on tour through sheer guts and determination, combined with great natural ability, and here they were sitting at one and three on the Challenger rankings but not giving an inch.
In the end Bella went two heats short of winning the event from worthy team-mate Macy Callaghan, while Sally faltered a bit earlier, but not until she’d made some faultless heats.
But it’s instructive to look back at the photos from earlier this year, depicting their disappointments and frustrations, knowing that they had to put all that behind them and get back on the horse, or wave in this context.
And I’m stoked for them. Sally’s nearing the end of a stellar career, Bella’s about in the middle, but both have so much left to give.
In the men’s it was great to see Aussies Joel Vaughan and George Pittar qualify for the WCT as ’25 rookies, but you had to share the disappointment of Callum Robson who, after a return to form in Portugal, had an outside chance to get back on tour, only to watch it fade away as the clock wound down and no waves appeared.
For my money, however, the award for supreme courage against overwhelming odds goes to everyone’s favourite Novocastrian ranga, Jackson Baker, who dropped to 79 in the rankings after a run of injuries during the Challenger season.
A stylish, hard-turning rails surfer with an infectious spirit, Jacko had no chance of qualifying for anything in Saquarema, but he gave it everything, and jumped 43 spots on the ladder for his equal-third finish, pocketing a handy $US5K to double his winnings for the year.
Yeah, it’s tough out there. Even surf journos earn more than that!
Noosa the producer
Noosa Boardriders Club has been smashing it out of the park in recent weeks, as reported gleefully to this column by ace publicity officer and killer surfer Dean Brady.
The club recently won the Queensland Boardriders Battle, booking a spot in the Australian final at Burleigh Heads in March.
We were runner-up in the state last year so to win this year and earn another shot at the Australian Title is super-exciting for the club,” Deano reports.
NBC’s men’s open competitor Cooper Davies scored a 9.33 on his way to claiming that division and also winning the Oakley Standout Performer award, while great performances by Ben and Gia Lorentson in the opens, plus Dean Brady in the Over 35s and Mitchell Peterson in the Under 18s secured the victory for Noosa.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Peterson has won the Phillip Island Rip Curl Gromsearch and now leads the Surfing Australia U18 male rankings, narrowly ahead of fellow Noosa surfer Landen Smales. The top-ranked Surfing Australia junior in each of the under-18 and under-16 boys and girls categories at the end of the calendar year are guaranteed a spot on the Irukandjis team for next year’s ISA World Junior Surfing Titles.
FOOTNOTE: While Sandy is winning Noosa this weekend, (go, girl!) this supporter will be hanging out in Brookvale with a bunch of old mates at Bennett Surf’s three-day Surf, Hops and History Festival. A celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first world surfing championships held up the road on Manly Beach, as well as the presentation of the Midget Farrelly Lifetime Achievement award and the opening of Bennett’s great new surf museum and centre, it looks like being a stomping good time. I couldn’t resist reproducing the retro art.
