When one door closes, another one opens, as they say. The old season has ended, and the new one is set to begin. April is quickly approaching, and the first of the month brings Opening Day for the Bells Beach event window.
Ah, the good old Championship Tour. The gold standard. This is where hopes and dreams live. Even when surfers make it on Tour they are always hoping, dreaming of the day they crack the top 10, top 5, don the Yellow Jersey and get handed that giant gold World Champion grail trophy. Fleeting moments though. Ask John John, he just spoke about this in the new Stab podcast.
You win the World Title one day, everyone moves on the next. It might last a week or so, but you get the point. Back to work. Just ask Matthew McGillivray, Jackson Bunch or Ian Gouveia; How did you enjoy your fleeting moment (7 events) on Tour last year? Back to work.
Don’t feel too bad. Three guys and two women* who fell off at last year’s Mid-Year Cut just requalified back to the CT. There is a road back. Speaking of which, let’s have a look at the new crop of surfers joining the CT, looking to chase their dreams.
*Nadia Erostarbe was the injury replacement, not officially on tour.
Men:
Kauli Vaast
Eli Hanneman
Morgan Ciblic
George Pittar
Samuel Pupo
Callum Robson
Luke Thompson
Oscar Berry
Mateus Herdy
Liam O’Brien
Women:
Tya Zebrowski
Yolanda Hopkins
Sally Fitzgibbons
Alyssa Spencer
Francisca Veselko
Nadia Erostarbe
Anat Lelior
Six of the ten Men have been on Tour at some point before. Kauli, Luke Thompson, and Mateus have all surfed CT events as Wildcards, leaving just Oscar Berry as the only guy joining the Championship Tour with no experience at all. Mateus and Kauli have both done really well in their quick showings, netting a 3rd and a runner up, respectively. Eli Hanneman, Morgan Ciblic, George Pittar, Sammy Pupo, Callum Robson and LOB are all happy to be back (where they feel) they belong.
As for the Women, Tya Zebrowski just won the Challenger Series at 14 years old. She’s never surfed a CT event before but I think she will be just fine, at least to start the year. Interested to see what shakes out at Teahupoo, Cloudbreak and Pipe. Anat Lelior is another rookie who hasn’t surfed at this level before. Sally Fitzgibbons is back for her 15th year after being cut and requalified not once, not twice, but at least three times. It might be more. Alyssa Spencer needed to win the event at Newcastle to get back on Tour, which she did. Nadia Erostarbe was last year’s injury replacement before the Mid-Year cut, and Francisca Veselko has had a couple of Wildcard entries to the CT, most recently at J-Bay last year.
When thinking about making a prediction pick for Rookie Of the Year, I was wondering if that pick had to be a true Rookie? For instance in baseball, say you play for the Dodgers for a season (2023), get sent down to the Minor Leagues the next year (2024), and called back up the following (2025) – you would not be considered a Rookie in 2025. You already have a season under your belt. If we follow this jurisdiction, Oscar Berry is the winner. The pick for a Woman ROY is much more difficult, but I would have to take Anat Lelior. Go with a little bit of risk, maybe snag a nice payout for her to win. If the field is open, however, I am picking Callum Robson. I’ll stick with Lelior.
I’ve only seen video clips of Oscar Berry, never watched him surf a heat, but I think he looks solid. Kauli Vaast should be here to stay. The Olympic Gold Medalist won the Challenger Series, and I believe should benefit from better seeding because of that. I am glad to see LOB, George Pittar, and Sammy Pupo back. I think they are all elite surfers with a serious chance to win events. I’ve always said Sammy reminds me of a different style Filipe. Mateus is the fan favorite. It’s taken him forever to get here – hence the complete overjoyous breakdown on Live TV when he did officially qualify. It would be another tough watch to see him fall right back off.
My personal question marks fall on Eli Hanneman, Morgan Ciblic and Luke Thompson. Morgan looks the strongest of the bunch to me, from the eye test. It’s hard for me to get over the size discrepancy with Hanneman. Rude, I know, but at least I am honest with you. To think of it, Morgan is not a big dude either, but he doesn’t look that small. He’s surfing really well right now, and he looks confident. Hopefully he can keep that rolling. I am not sure if I have ever seen Luke Thompson surf. South African, probably rips right hand point breaks – he’s stoked. Bells Beach, Margs, Snapper to start the year. Watch for him to come out firing.
Aside from my ROY pick, I’m going to keep mum on the Women for now. To be fair, I haven’t seen them surf enough. It’s not all my fault either – blame the WSL. They always send them out when the conditions go to shit. I’ve got some homework to do. I’ll work on it and be better this year. The Title race is on that side going to be electric. That is something we are getting into in the very near future.
Until then.
Cheers,
hwilsin
Drew Stanfield