There have been some mixed feelings around this year’s WSL Finals. Last year’s Finals saw a big swell event during the contest window. This season was different. The waves were by no means bad, but they weren’t big, and as Barton says in the opening minutes of his most recent Stoked Bloke Podcast, “waves of consequence tend to be what people want and the place and environment that champions should be crowned in.” The Finals were exciting without a doubt, but the added risk factor of big waves certainly wasn’t there.
And then there’s the unusual happenstance of Stephanie Gilmore going from fifth to first, when 10,000 points, the points earned for a regular-season event win, wouldn’t have been enough to dethrone Carissa (she trailed Carissa by more than that going in). That’s not to say Gilmore didn’t deserve her eighth world title, but seeing as the event is only in its second running, there’s probably room for improvement. Lynch, a man who has seen professional surfing change a lot over the years, has some things to say on the matter. Listen in above.
