As you’ve likely heard, something pretty amazing happened over the course of the last two WSL events. Barron Mamiya almost beat Kelly Slater in a heat at Pipeline, finishing ninth in the contest, then went on to win the Hurley Pro Sunset. And he did both as a wildcard.
Mamiya, who will likely be a serious threat at Pipeline — and any other event, for that matter — for years to come, found himself in the Round of 16 at the Billabong Pro Pipeline against Kelly Slater. It was likely a nerve-racking experience for the 22 year old, but he held up under the pressure. Actually, he did more than hold up — he performed incredibly well.
For a few minutes, he had the 11-time world champion in a combination situation, but in the dying seconds of the heat, Kelly Slater did what Kelly does best: he found a wave that won the heat. Even though Mamiya didn’t win, one has to imagine that a ninth-place finish at Pipeline must’ve been a highlight of his life. He was awarded another wildcard into the Sunset event, but didn’t really know how he’d fare. As it turned out, he fared well.
In a final against Kanoa Igarashi, Mamiya had the screws put to him early. It was a bit of a slow start, but as the two found their rhythm the fireworks started. After a priority error by Mamiya that showed his inexperience on the tour, he came back with both barrels loaded. Back-to-back scoring waves that put his score at 15.00 meant that Igarashi needed to find a near-perfect 9.50 to win. With two minutes left on the clock, Mamiya decided to put the final nail in Igarashi’s coffin. He found another bomb that netted him an 8.83, which put Kanoa in a combination situation. As the time ran out, Mamiya was overwhelmed. He now had the yellow jersey — and he became the first men’s wildcard to win an event since 2008.
“I can’t believe it, I literally can’t believe it,” said Mamiya after his win. “I thought Pipe was going to be the event I was going to do really well in. I’m so comfortable at Pipe and I wasn’t really super prepared for this event but in my mind I just had to adapt to whatever the conditions are and figure it out.”
Mamiya’s team put together a short edit called Silent Motions that documents his rollercoaster through the last two CT events. It shows his Pipeline performance before heading off the Sunset. It shows the emotion of a wildcard who probably didn’t expect to win… and it could very well show a future world champion.
