A couple of storybook results here at the Southern California Skatepark this past week. 34-year-old Miggy Pupo continues his dream run, winning his 2nd event of the season (Bells, Lowers), while 19-year-old Erin Brooks just won her 3rd straight (Teahupoo, Cloudbreak, Lowers). As another side story, this was the last event before the ‘mini cut’. Let’s get into the details.
I’d like to start off by saying that I did have Pupo as my double whammy surfer in fantasy, it was just the wrong brother. Sammy got knocked by a flaring Jake Marshall early on in the event (Round 2), even whilst throwing one of the biggest, grandest claims of the event – and possibly the year? If this was the NFL or the MLB, he might be fined (laughs). Also, I Surfived, yet again. There were 57 left going into this comp, and I think about 15 got knocked. I am getting nervous. Enough about me.
Miguel’s run was not as much of a shocker as you might think. He’s got a prior history down in San Clemente, winning the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro in 2011 (15 years ago) when it was an ASP Prime event. Ironically enough, back then he beat Tanner Gudauskas by a mere .06 points, and Tanner was commentating this year’s event. Crazy how the world works sometimes. This year he beat Kanoa in the Final by half a point (0.50). Before that, he took out Cole Houshmand in the semi’s, Mateus Herdy in the Quarters, Liam O’Brien in Round 3, and Ramzi Boukhiam in Round 2. Miggy went excellent (8.00 or better) 4 times in 5 heats. He really was the guy to beat in the event, with Cole and Kanoa right behind him dropping 3 excellent scores each themselves. Mateus also had a great run from out of Round 1 that is worth noting – he took out Jack Robbo and Gabe Medina before running into Miguel in the Quarters.
As for the Women’s side of the draw, I’m not sure if Erin will ever lose another Heat again. 3 event wins in a row equals 13 Heat Wins in a row, and that is just insane. Of course anything can happen in surfing given the conditions, the swell, etc etc. I don’t need to get into it. But damn, she is surfing that much better than everyone right now. Her heat in Round 2 against Caroline Marks was the closest she got to losing – she needed a buzzer beater 5.71 to get through and dropped a 6.27. I will say on her behalf that it was during overlapping heats, and the waves & conditions were shit. Nonetheless it was a very close heat. Caroline was using more rail, while Erin was snapping more off the lip. It could have gone either way, maybe, but the speed that Brooks surfs with is unmatched on Tour at this point. That much is clear. After that she beat Carissa in the Quarters, Molly Picklum in the Semi’s, and Gabby Bryan in the Final.
With that, we have now entered the first ever WSL ‘Postseason’. Portugal (Supertubos) and Philippines (Cloud 9) will feature 22 Men, and 14 Women. Every surfer will return for the Final event of the season at Pipeline, an event worth 1.5 points, where the World Champions will (likely) be decided. I am unsure about the mathematics and if it is possible for someone to Win the Title prior to then. 9 Women and 11 Men missed the cut. Actually, 12 Men missed the cut but I am not counting Jordy Smith/Matt McGillivray as Jords was injured and Matty Ice replaced him 4 events in. Here is who got relegated to the Challenger Series:
MEN
Barron Mamiya
Alan Cleland
Crosby Colapinto
Mateus Herdy
Alejo Muniz
Rio Waida
Ramzi Boukhiam
Joel Vaughan
Eli Hanneman
Luke Thompson
Oscar Berry
WOMEN
Anat Lelior
Alyssa Spencer
Steph Gilmore
Brisa Hennessy
Tya Zebrowski
Vahine Fierro
Sally Fitzgibbons
Bella Kenworthy
Francisca Veselko
There are only 2 Challenger Series events left (Sao Sebastiao, Brazil and Ericeira, Portugal), and 1 International QS 6,000 (Taiwan Open of Surfing), meaning these surfers have 3 events to cover some serious ground in an attempt to re-qualify for Tour. Tough scheduling from the WSL, though I will say it is the first go-round at this new season format. Maybe next year will be ironed out a little better.
As for the surfers still on Tour, let’s look at the Rankings. Once the Wave Pool event in Saudi officially got taken off of this year’s schedule, there was a little shake up. That happened before Lowers, so I’m just jumping into where we are now.
Yago Dora will be back in the Yellow/Gold jersey at Number 1 on the Men’s rankings, with a little bit of a gap between him and Leonardo in 2nd (2,765 points). Behind Leo is Italo in 3rd, and Miggy in 4th, who are really tight in the standings. 565 points separates 2nd (Leo) and 4th (Miguel Pupo). After that is a big gap, 4,040 points between Miggy and Gabriel Medina in 5th. Barring anything outrageous happening, like an Erin Brooks type of run, the furthest down I am willing to go to look at Title threats is to Ethan Ewing in 8th, but I feel even this is a stretch. Kanoa is in 7th, but I don’t think he’s got much of a shot either. I’ll leave the door slightly cracked open for Griffin in 6th place – he’s won in Portugal before. Twice, actually.
As for the Women, Gabriela Bryan is back in the driver’s seat, but not by much. She took back 1st place from Carissa, who is hot in pursuit, just 545 points behind. Sawyer Lindblad is in 3rd, a cool 2,265 points behind Carissa, but that is not out of the picture with 3 full events left. Molly Picklum (4th), Erin Brooks (5th) and Luana Silva (6th) are all still in play, but I will say that I think Caity Simmers (7th) and anyone ranked below her might start to look towards next season for a shot at the World Title.
There’s nearly a month until the event window begins for the next Tour stop at Supertubos in Portugal, so we’ll now turn our attention to Brazil and the next Challenger Series Event in Sao Sebastiao. I am intrigued to see what kind of waves will be on offer. I am only familiar with Saquarema. I remember the one year they moved up the beach to that throaty right hander called Barrinha, that was just up the way from Saquarema though. I can’t think of any other comps or waves in Brazil. Something new is always something fresh, so I’m looking forward to watching this contest. And I always like to keep an eye on the CT guys and gals moving down into the lower tiered events and how they go – you remember.
There are a few one off, rogue contests going on in the World right now, such as the Quiksilver Festival and the Alto Pro Am. I’ll try to dig into those this week, if there’s time. No promises. I do have some other stuff for you this week though. We’ll talk soon.
Until then, get some waves. Water is still warm, for now. I can feel it starting to get colder outside, specifically at night. The seasons are a-changin.
Cheers,
hwilsin
Drew Stanfield