Stephanie Gilmore: Proof that Margaret River is good for the girls. Photo: ASP/Kirstin
This past week, I’ve had several friends whine to me complaining that The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro should not be a stop on the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour. Some webcast watchers deemed some of the earlier heats “boring,” and viewers became frustrated with the single-digit heat totals and tricky conditions. Some thought the girls just couldn’t handle Margaret’s heavy waves. Despite the grumbles, I’m here to make the case for Margaret River.
1. The Girls Need a Challenge
Ever since the girls lost the Triple Crown, Fiji, and Teahupoo a few years back, the Women’s Tour has lost a little bit of its bite. Margaret River may not be Chopes, but it’s a heavy wave in its own right, and it gives the Tour the kick it needs to keep things interesting. It’s good for the girls to prove themselves in bigger surf and tricky conditions. Sure, Margaret River might not be as fun to surf or to watch as perfect head-high Snapper, but surfing heavier waves pushes the world’s best to become even better.
2. Not Everyone Likes Beach Break
Just like not everybody loves big waves, there are girls on tour who don’t love waist high beach break. Ditto for viewers online. In the case of the Women’s Tour in the past few years, if you’re one of these surfers, you’ve been out of luck. From Rio to Huntington to New Zealand, a vast majority of the Women’s WCT events took place in shoulder high beach break. Fortunately, with this year’s addition of Fiji, Trestles, and Maui alongside Margaret River, the Tour is offering a variety of waves. Surfers have different strengths, and it’s only fair to provide a tour that offers surfers a variety of conditions to test these differing strengths.
3. They Can Handle It
The current ASP Women’s World Tour has some of the most talented female surfers in history. Sure, maybe some of the girls are not as strong in Margaret’s heavy surf. It might make for a few slow heats in the first rounds. But the girls that can handle it really do put on a show. Girls like Carissa Moore, Tyler Wright, and Courtney Conlogue don’t even get started until the waves are overhead. These ladies charge, and they’re not afraid to throw progressive moves in heavy waves. This is the kind of critical surfing that should be showcased and celebrated on the WCT tour.
4. Progression
Bottom line: if younger girls growing up surfing expect that someday, to win a world title, they will have to be able to surf heavy waves like Margaret River, they will rise to the occasion. They will start training in bigger waves from a younger age, and they will be more comfortable and ready to take on the world’s heaviest waves. For the progression of women’s surfing, it’s important to establish a foundation of well-rounded surfing. The girls on the Tour have the talent and the ability to establish well-rounded surfing as a norm, and for this reason heavy waves like Margaret River can do nothing but good for the future of women’s surfing.
