The Oscar Berry Round – this is what Round 1 will be referred to from now on. Can’t help but to feel for the guy at this point. Tya Zebrowski, the unanimous ROY pick on the Women’s side, is another surfer yet to get through a R1 Heat.
The difference being that Tya is well on her way to making a Heat, and she’s not far off from having a run. The surf world at large knows this young prodigy has the talent; it’s only a matter of time. She just lost to Carissa, who looks to be getting into form right now, by 0.23. She lost to Sally Fitz at Mary’s by less than a point. She is right there.
After what happened yesterday, I am honestly not sure if Oscar Berry will make it through One Heat this entire year. I don’t know what else he can do. He’s pushing shit uphill. Let’s get into Day One from Snapper Rocks.
MEN R1
HEAT 1 –
Callum Robson vs Oscar Berry
Already referenced, Callum Robson knocked Oscar Berry out – his (Oscar’s) third R1 exit in as many events. So tough. He had this one in the bag. His best effort yet, and he had moments where you can see the potential. In the middle of the heat, under priority, he had probably his best snap of the year (?), and tried to quickly combo it up with a blow tail/air revo, but he fell. If he pulls it, it’s a major combo and he definitely gets through the heat.
I have to mention the leash break. What a damn weird thing to happen. Under 5 minutes left and Callum has prio. Oscar goes deeper than Cal and he has to pencil dive behind to avoid and INT calls. We see Cal surf his wave all the way through, needing a 7.17. Number is not quite there, but the big thing is that Oscar’s leash breaks. Callum gets back outside and snags prio. Oscar’s board just got swept down the beach, so he swims in, gets a new boar, runs and jumps out through the ‘keyhole’.
Too late, Callum got prio. Score comes in – 5.50. Now he needs a 5.78.
With 15 seconds left Callum goes. Wave is a burger. He looks out the back while riding, and he must see a better one directly behind, because he flicks off and turns around on the very next wave. This one he stands up maybe with 5 seconds remaining. A straight up buzzer beater. One carve, pushed a little harder on a second and almost catches rail, then he throws caution to the wind, air revo out into the flats on a really hollow shutdown section. 5.83. Down goes Berry (again). Props to Cal, he just gets it done. Grinder.
HEAT 2 –
Mateus Herdy vs Reef Heazelwood
Reef is gnarly, but this was a tough draw. Mateus was always going to be a threat here at Snapper. Anybody else in this R1 draw and I think Reef would have had better luck. Now that I think about it, Griffin vs Mateus is a cracker of a R2 Heat. I’m a little worried for Griff; I picked him on my fantasy team.
Fuck, Reef was ripping though. He reminds me a lot of a Jacob Wilcox – not style wise or in the same skill set, but in the fact that he probably should/could be on Tour. He’s that damn good at performance surfing. The Evan Geiselman of Australia. Did Evan make it on Tour?
In my opinion, Heazelwood’s 6.60 was undercooked. Richie Lovett said it, “got him on the edge of his seat” and he thought it was near excellent. I agreed. His first turn got a bit hung up, a little stuck on the roof when the tossed the fins out the back, but after that he pinned 3 beautiful maneuvers, all right in the money section and all with variety – really tough to do on the backhand.
I’m sure it was always apart of his game plan, but I don’t think Mateus would have beaten Reef on the rail. He started going for the grab rail air reverse right off the first section, a play straight out of Julian’s book. That got it done for him, judges were always going to reward the High Risk at the start of the wave.
HEAT 3 –
Luke Thompson vs Winter Vincent
Winter is highly touted in Aus. They say he’s going to be on Tour sooner than later, and he’s had a Wildcard entry before – last year at Margs, so he’s got some experience at this level already. He surfs really good, great style and the fundamentals are there. I think he caught the best looking wave of the heat, but there wasn’t anything explosive. He needed the X factor in some kind of major maneuver. Surfed the wave beautifully, pinned it right in the pocket with some nice tail snaps but he needed more juice at this level.
I also have Luke Thompson on my fantasy team for this event. I like him to have a little run. He is also trying to replace Jordy as the new Floater King on Tour. The one was radical. Seeing a proper floater today is like seeing a good bunt in baseball; it warms my heart.
HEAT 4 –
Morgan Ciblic vs Ramzi Boukhiam
Ronnie Blakey claimed that Morgan has logged more time out at Snapper than any other competitor on the CT. Morgan has also been surfing really well recently, though results have yet to show – he’s only made one Heat in each event so far. Two 17th place finishes. That’s one better than his competitor, Ramzi, who’s only made one Heat thus far. All to say, these guys need to build some momentum.
If Ramzi rides out of his finishing turn of his opening ride, he probably goes excellent. He’s got the most explosive backhand on Tour since Wiggoly Dantas. One might point towards a Connor O’Leary in dispute, it’s just a different style. Explosive is the word I am honing in on.
Morgan was in trouble for a while in this Heat. He had single individual maneuvers that were really strong, but he didn’t quite link a major maneuver with a combo. His scoring rides were all just well surfed. Ramzi held the high score of a 7.33 and left Morgan chasing a 6.01 for about 10 minutes. He finds a 6.77 highlighted by a big arm-bar pocket gouge and takes the lead. Ramzi almost took this Win. He needed a 5.77 and with 5 minutes left used his priority for a smaller, inside track that he smashed the shit out of 4 times, vertically. All very similar turns, all critical. Score comes in with about 2 minutes remaining – 5.60. Wave didn’t have the size, and Morgan moves on.
WOMEN R1
HEAT 1 –
Francisca Veselko vs. Yolanda Hopkins
Kika Veselko was a popular Darkhorse pick to win the event. Her board looked really stiff. Yolanda was fucking charging. Not that it counted for anything in the scoreline, but anyone who watched this heat, she definitely earned her respect from. She also won the Heat too. She was going more vertical in the pocket, attacking sections vs Veselko’s wrap.
HEAT 2 –
Sally Fitzgibbons vs Bella Kenworthy
Imagine how many heats Sally has surfed out here. A win from Bella would be an upset, in my mind. Similar to Veselko, Bella Kenworthy’s board looked really stiff. Like she was nursing all of her turns and it would hit a pivot point where it would disconnect, it would look chopped up, like two or more turns in one. Sally looked quite the opposite. Her board was smooth through transitions and she was able to push hard off the top, on the rails, and in the pocket. I thought there could have been more separation in this heat; I thought Sally surfed much better. Nonetheless, she gets through in a close one – 12.33 to 11.60 over Bella Kenworthy.
HEAT 3 –
Vahine Fierro vs. Brisa Hennessy
Brisa is off to a tough start to the year. Hasn’t made a Heat. Tied with Kenworthy and Zebrowski at 23rd, Dead Last. She’s surfing good. I thought she was ripping in this Heat; a couple of 6’s without finishing either wave. Her board may have looked a little small, but she was able to push it hard. Maybe too hard.
Unfortunately for Brisa, Vahine Fierro dropped the highest score of the Round on her – an 8.67 for absolutely tagging the lip four times, air dropping back in on the last maneuver in a steep section. Vahine actually dropped the highest Heat Total of the Round – 16.50. Huge. She backed up the high 8 with a 7.83 that she ripped and included a nifty little tube ride. Tough to do on the backhand. She’s looking dangerous.
HEAT 4 –
Carissa Moore vs. Tya Zebrowski
I alluded to this one earlier, but poor Zebrowski went down again. This was my first time really watching her surf, and wow, she is gnarly. She will Win a World Title. This Heat forsure could have went either way. I was pretty shook that her two scoring rides weren’t higher. Her first turn out the back on both was fucked up. Reminded me of Dusty Payne or something. Carissa needed a 6.28 with under a minute remaining. I dont think one single turn matched young Tya’s major out the back, but I think the combination could not be denied. Heat is over, Carissa’s on the sand signing auto’s, and the score comes in – Moore wins. She has an emotional moment that’s been on socials. Heavy. I predict she either loses the next round, or wins the event. That kind of emotion either charges you up, or spends you all the way down, no in between.
HEAT 5 –
Alyssa Spencer vs Nadia Erostarbe
Definitely the upset of the Round, people had Alyssa Spencer penciled in to Win. I think Nadia might be a little bigger than Alyssa, at least that’s the way it looked to me – like she surfed bigger. She pushed a little harder off the top and threw a substantial amount of spray because of it. Alyssa was ripping too, dropping a 7.67, but she couldn’t find a strong finish to either of her keepers. She would have got through almost every other matchup with her Heat Total of 13.17 (H8, S. Lindblad – 13.84, H3 V. Fierro – 16.50). Erostarbe moves on to face Caroline in R2.
HEAT 6 –
Tyler Wright vs. Anat Lelior
Tyler cruised through this one. Anat really could not get her rhythm going. She was visibly frustrated in the water, and you had to feel for her. Waves were looking so fun and she was just having a shocker. TW moves on.
HEAT 7 –
Erin Brooks vs. Steph Gilmore
Steph gets her revenge. Erin just took out the Queen at Margaret’s in Round One. Ironic they would matchup again. Two completely opposing styles, especially on right handers. Steph being very smooth and on rail, while Erin is very up and down in the pocket. Now as much as you’d like to think this was always Steph’s Heat to lose, Erin’s got a 10 point ride out here behind the Rocks, and she won that same Challenger Series event. She was a real threat to take Steph out again early here on the Goldy. She damn near did it. Taking off on a smaller inside wave with 30 seconds left, needing a 7.93, she destroys the wave that keeps bending back at her. I could have seen it going either way, but Steph was on waves that were so much better, it would have been a tough look. Especially here at home. Stephanie survives via wave selection.
HEAT 8 –
Sawyer Lindblad vs. Dimity Stoyle
I wasn’t sure what to expect here. I know Dimitri won the Trials, and I heard she knows the bank well. I’m just never sure on a Wildcard or Trials winner’s talent level. The CT is a cut above. But Shimmy Disco, as they call her, did not disappoint. She was getting proper tubes, which was cool. There was actually a funny situation where she got coned, and Sawyer uses prio down the line – straight burns her. Dimity comes out of the pit, a sick barrel, and almost runs straight into Sawyer. Hilarious. Don’t know how it didn’t get called, especially if Jack Robbo got called at Bells.
Anyways, Stoyle was laying down some huge turns too. I think she got the WildCards scoring criteria. Sawyer has incredible timing going right, and she can throw a Christmas Tree of spray, which the judges love. Lindblad moves on handily, but I thought it could have been a closer heat. Nice showing Dimity.
MEN R2
HEAT 1 –
Barron Mamiya vs. Marco Mignot
I had almost forgotten that Snapper Rocks is the Board Demolishing Event. Of course you’ll remember Freddy P. literally surfing up onto a Rock. Italo Ferreira jumping onto and smashing his board in the locker room. And this year we already have Barron Mamiya punching board on his way out of the lineup after suffering a tough late loss to Marco Mignot.
I was taking a few notes last night as the contest was going on. Stoned and tired I jot: Holy fuck. Marco Mignot just belted that wave like a Dad does his bad child. 8.33 at the 5 minute mark when he needed an 8.10, and throwing the best claim of the year so far – Mignot marches.
HEAT 2 –
Kauli Vaast vs. Jordy Smith
It’s funny what a year does. If this were last year, Jordy Smith would have been a hot pick to Win this event. He is just not in the same form. Kauli wouldn’t have been the favorite in this matchup, but he shouldn’t have been a huge underdog either.
Nonetheless, this is a nice notch in Kauli’s belt; to beat Jordy out at Snapper. Even if Jordy may not be in Top Form right now, he still dropped a 7 and a 6.40, he maybe looked a bit too measured in comparison to Kauli’s sharp pocket snaps. He was throwing buckets to the sky, it was really cool looking through the rain squall. Kauli moves onto R3.
I thought they were going to run the rest of the Round. That’s what was slated when the day began, and I didn’t hear why they called it off after this Heat. I have heard that today is supposed to be pumping; better than it was yesterday. I guess a more lined up swell, less broken up. Although fuck, it looked damn good at times yesterday.
I was watching the last heat, but like I said I missed the part when they said it would be off. I must have fallen asleep. I woke up this morning in a rush to find out if Toledo beat Cole Houshmand. He has to. Must Win. My Surfival League depends on him. My fantasy year is fucked already, so I’m not even paying attention to that.
Should be a great watch today. Tune in about 2:00, which is almost right now.
Cheers,
hwilsin
Drew Stanfield