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South America is on top again, as Filipe Toledo became the first Brazilian to win titles back to back, but thanks to an inspired performance by Caroline Marks half the bragging rights go the way of the USA. However, not even a fifty-foot pirate boat drifting off the back of the break with ‘Griff for world champ’ emblazoned across it could deliver the North Americans the double win they would have loved.
To be honest the day began in dismally slow fashion. After casual Caity Simmers strolled down the beach high-fiving fans en route to the water’s edge it went flat for fifteen agonising minutes. The first test was of the commentator’s ability to fill dead air time. Somewhere a Surfline forecaster was looking for a hole to hide in, but thankfully things kicked into gear. In the wee hours of the morning there were some magic moments, but most of these were glimpsed between micro-naps on the couch. If you would like to sign the no-more-Trestles petition we’ll release it later.
So, here’s a sleep-deprived dance over the day’s critical events. After Joao Chianca body-jived past Jack Robbo’ he met miracle man Ethan Ewing. Ethan looked a little tender but his technique is so spot on that he could still arc through three flawless moves on each wave, complete with whip-crack controlled slides, air drops and always an upper and lower body in perfect conversation. Richie Lovett apologised for his grunting approval. With a 17.60 total he briefly banished Chianca to combo land and claimed a truly courageous victory.
Commentator Mitchell Salazar went so far as to say that Caroline’s Marks’ backside technique was arguably the best on any tour – men’s or women’s. According to Joe Turpel coach, Luke Egan had encouraged her to push turns till she fell in training so she understood how far she could take it. Marks has often been compared to Occy on her backhand and Joe Turpel took full use of his creative license to call her Caroluppo as she hooked a turn off the top. However, there are also certainly shades of Egan in the attack.
The key to the whole unshakeable back to the wall assault was Caroline’s ability to square up off the bottom and attack the coping from behind the pocket in the most critical positions.
Marks glossed past the new prodigy Caitlin Simmers in a low-scoring affair before she went into the excellent range against Tyler Wright, who pushed Caroline all the way but couldn’t match the vicious backside blasts.
Ewing again exceeded all expectations by trumping homeboy Griffin Colapinto. Griff later said he’s 25 and only getting started but he will have to see this as a lost opportunity to claim a world title – he may not get a better lay up. Ultimately Ethan’s ice-man approach was worth more than the home-town hype. On each wave Ewing pulled the kind of torso-wrenching turns that made you wince every time he did it, given you knew he had a fracture in L3 and L4.
Marks went excellent range again against Carissa Moore in heat one of their best of three match-ups. While Moore’s surfing looked a little disjointed, Marks didn’t miss a beat flowing seamlessly from one critical turn to the next. A desperate looking Carissa lunged for an air but couldn’t find the landing gear. Curiously both surfers had coaches from Newcastle in their corners. Marks with Luke Egan and Carissa taking cues from Mitch Ross. That was our only brag for the day.
In the opening heat of the men’s there was a split hair between the scores. Both surfers blazing on their frontside, the air reverse Toledo’s key point of difference while Ewing’s main weapon was his snap to one-eighty tail-slide. Toledo’s turns featured more swoop, while Ethan’s were more precise, powerful and acute. In a flurry of fearsome exchanges sometimes judges had different views on who warranted the high score, but in the end it was Toledo’s aerial hi-jinx that made a clear appeal to the criteria’s call for variety and progression.
Heat two, Caroline was back at it, tossing plumes off spray into the smoggy-blue Californian sky and finding the bullseye point on every turn. Carissa had no answer for the Marks backside symphony and it was a two-zip win in a best of three scenario.
The Final Five System rewards the surfer who can deliver on the day but you have to feel for Carissa Moore who has dominated the regular season two years in a row only to have the title snatched from her in a one day, winner takes all rumble. Caroline Marks had her first ever CT contest win against Carissa Moore at D’Bah back in 2019, now her finest moment had arrived against the same competitor.
This was Marks reaching her full potential and you can’t take anything away from her victory. However, I’d still rather see the final five run as a separate event and the world title awarded to the surfer who finishes first past the post.
Heat two of the men’s was a cagey affair. No one looked at a wave until there were fifteen minutes to go. Toledo fumbled on his first and then turned a nothing wave into a 5.17 and then manufactured a 7.5 before Ethan had dipped a paddle arm into the water. Ewing turned so hard he creased his board for a 7.67 and with a few minutes to go there was a whiff of hope, but the ocean didn’t want to play the base line for Ewing’s broken back melody. And so with a sense of inevitability Toledo was ushered into the two-title club. As Richie Lovett commented there was probably no wave in the world better suited to a single surfer than Trestles is for Toledo. However, you still have to paddle out and get the job done and Toledo embraced the task. Seven of the last ten men’s titles now have Brazilian names attached to them and as Toledo pointed out in his acceptance speech he is the first to go back-to-back. This is the era of the South American and there are no signs they are slowing up. The WSL’s destiny seems a little uncertain at present but as much fun as Trestles has been, I do hope we are somewhere else next year if the Final Five System is retained.
