It was a full day of surfing on both the men’s and women’s side, with somewhat fun conditions at Bell’s neighbour Winkipop to complete the opening and elimination rounds of the Rip Curl Pro.
Tracks correspondent Luke Kennedy :“Woke up to Winki Pop where it’s windblown and three-to-four-foot and Rabbit Bartholomew is hopping around the commentary booth delivering hyperbolic history lessons on pro surfing. So touching when incumbent WSL CEO, Erik Logan, thanked Bugs for laying the foundations of the Dream Tour”.
Here were the highlights of the second day at Bells Beach.
BIG PERFORMERS:
Barron Mamiya
A cloud of doubt hung over Hawaiian wildcard bolter, Barron Mamiya. How would he handle thick rubber and chubby walls? He was up against Ethan Ewing who was carrying the weight of Australian fans on his shoulders. He is currently the highest rated Aussie at 14 but had never surfed a heat at Bells or Winki (nor had Barron).
Hurling his strongman stance through the Winki froth, Mamiya posted a thirteen-point heat total in under ten minutes. Fin chucks, power carves and flashy reverses. Barron was just fine in the chilled soup. Oh, how we wanted to see Ethan Ewing swinging that magic frontside carve through an eight-foot Bells bowl. We had to be content with three-foot Winky but at least there was one sparky moment on his 6.5 to take second spot off Morgan Ciblic.
Johanne Defay
Surfing conditions improved for the start of women’s competition at around mid-morning today. There was some excellent surfing on the women’s draw, but none better than Johanne Defay. The 28-year-old matched up with Torquay local India Robinson and Hawaiian Luana Silva in the opening round. The French-woman scored the highest heat total of the round with a 16.67 on a couple of solid Winki waves. Defay put on a class of how to surf Winkipop, her highest score being an 8.5, which was a combination of aggressive carves, hacks and good flow. The world number six sent a clear message that no women’s surfer is taking her spot-on tour if she has anything to do with it.
Surfing’s own ‘Make or Break’
Back in the booth all the talk was about the WSL’s new drama doco’ series Make Or Break. Brought to you by the same team – Box to Box – that produced the fabulously popular Formula-1 series Drive to Survive it is being promoted as a ‘character driven’ take on the events which transpire in and around Pro surfing.
The first season zones in on the 2021 season when COVID still had the world wrapped in an evil miasma and Gabriel Medina and Carissa Moore smoked the field. “You get emotionally invested in what it’s like to be on tour,” Erik Logan assured us. Tracks has had an inside peak at the production and can assure you it’s the most money and creative energy anyone has ever thrown at a pro surfing project. The question is whether it can achieve the holy grail of surf production – something that keeps core fans happy and drags in the broader audience the WSL are chasing.
NOTABLE PERFORMERS
Captain America, Kolohe Andino ditched his Bells Mayhems and went back to his So Cal quiver. Kolohe looked crisp and confident in the water, icy and focused behind his Oakley blades. Kolohe has the ‘good to very good’ act down, but he needs something just a little more other-worldly to make him a top five contender.
Isabell Nichols showed no nerves getting the win over 2021 world champ Carissa Moore in her opening round. The 22-year-old looked sharp, dissecting Winkipop and will take a lot of confidence from the heat moving forward in the event. The two previous weeks of sacrifice and preparation down at Bells paid off with a strong start for the Aussie rookie.
Portugal pro champ Tatiana Western-Webb put on a backhand masterclass in her heat, she is looking hungry for that yellow jersey. While Gabriela Bryan avoided the elimination round for the first time this year scoring one of the highest waves of the day (8.27).
Mick Fanning rebounded in his elimination round moving into the round of 32 with his Rip-Curl team-mate Morgan Cibilic. White Lightning showed flashes of his prime self, connecting his manoeuvrers and freeing the fins with a much improved performance on yesterday’s self-described ’embarrassing effort’.
UNDER ACHIEVER: Conner Coffin
Conner Coffin could not get going in his heat today and ultimately exited the Bells event this year. We expected the Californian to do well at stop number four with his excellent rail game suiting the Victorian right-hand breaks. However, he could not consistently complete a solid wave throughout the event and struggled in the Winki line-up today. Coffin is just ahead of the cut-off line and is at risk of being kicked off tour following the next event at Margaret river.
HEAT OF THE DAY:
Stephanie Gilmore (12.16) v Molly Picklum (11.16)v Brissa Hennesy (10.20)
It may have not been the best surfing of their careers, but this heat was the most exciting of the day. All eyes were on Stephanie Gilmore in her opening-round heat, needing a good result at Bells to make the cut. The seven-time world champ turned it on against world no.1 Brisa Hennessy and rookie Molly Picklum. Steph may be behind the cut-off line, but proved she is still one of the best in the world with a solid performance.
It almost ended badly for Gilmore after an awkward priority exchange with Molly Picklum in the final minute of the heat. Steph’s coach Tom Whittaker looked to be having the early signs of a heart attack on the broadcast. However, the possible interference was cleared, and Steph will find herself in the round of 16. The four-time bells champ even got fellow Aussie icon Ash Barty down to Winkipop. The former tennis no. 1 came down to watch her friend “do her thing” even though she is not a fan of the beach. How good is the mutual respect between the two living legends.
Men’s results
Opening Round
- · Heat 9
- · Joao Chianca – 11.93
- · Caio Ibelli – 11.33
- · Conner Coffin – 7.10
- · Heat 10
- · Kolohe Andino – 12.93
- · Jack Robinson – 12.16
- · Jadson Andre – 11.13
- · Heat 11
- · Deivid Silva – 11.27
- · Jake Marshall – 10.84
- · Miguel Pupo – 10.90
- · Heat 12:
- · Barron Mamiya – 13.00
- · Ethan Ewing – 11.33
- · Morgan Cibilic – 8.17
- Elimination Round
- Heat One
- Griffin Colapinto – 14.37
- Jadson Andre – 13.03
- Tully Wylie – 10.34
- Heat Two
- Morgan Cibilic – 14.84
- Mick Fanning – 11.90
- Seth Moniz – 8.90
- Heat Three
- Nat Young – 13.34
- Imaikalani deVault – 10.93
- Conner Coffin – 10.84
- Heat Four
- Connor O ‘Leary – 14.83
- Jake Marshall – 11.17
- Matthew McGillivray – 9.77
Women’s results
Opening Round
- Heat 1
- Gabriela Bryan – 14.40
- Lakey Peterson – 14.07
- Courtney Conlogue – 13.16
- Heat 2
- Tatiana Weston- Webb – 14.40
- Bronte Macaulay – 13.60
- Sally Fitzgibbons – 13.06
- Heat 3
- Isabella Nichols – 13.70
- Carissa Moore – 13.14
- Alyssa Spencer – 8.34
- Heat 4
- Stephanie Gilmore – 12.16
- Brisa Hennessy – 11.16
- Molly Picklum – 10.20
- Heat 5
- Johanne Defay – 16.67
- India Robinson – 12.53
- Luana Silva – 11.00
- Heat 6
- Malia Manuel – 11.20
- Tyler Wright – 9.84
- Bettylou Sakura Johnson – 0.50
- Elimination Round Heat 1
- Sally Fitzgibbons – 15.10
- Alyssa Spencer – 13.33
- Molly Picklum – 10.83
- Elimination Round Heat 2
- Luana Silva – 12.16
- Courtney Conlogue – 11.84
- Bettylou Sakura Johnson – 11.76
