Gabriel Medina won the 2012 Nike Lowers Pro. Photo: ASP/Hilleman
One thing is for sure: Gabriel Medina absolutely dominated the 2012 Nike Lowers Pro. He put on an unparalleled display of high performance surfing that left all others in the dust.
Early in the week, Taylor Knox’s power surfing ruled Lowers, which was a surprise considering the typical display of aerial maneuvers. “I just go out there and stick to my own game plan,” said Knox. “It’s not like I’m going to pretend I’m going to out-air John John.”
But it was new-age, high-performance surfing that came out on top in the end –with Dane Reynolds and Gabriel Medina (Medina especially) leading the charge. Gabriel Medina dominated Ace Buchan in the semi final, opening the heat with a perfect 10 point ride and sealing the deal with a 9.8 only 11 minutes into the heat. Buchan was plagued with long lulls and couldn’t put together a ride to combat the young Brazilians early scores. It was rough to watch, and even the announcer on the beach apologized to Buchan as he rode in from the heat.
Medina’s road to the final heat was well paved, but it was lesser-known WQS veteran Glen Hall who came up against the young Brazilian in the final. Hall, 30 now has the highest finish for an Irish surfer in ASP history at second place. “This is a great result for sure,” Hall said. “And I am in a good position to try and qualify now. I’m going to do all of the PRIMES and see how we go.”
“This is a very special win and it has been a long week,” Medina said, “I love Trestles so much, it’s just such a good wave and it’s one of my favorites, I just don’t even have words to explain how I’m feeling right now. I’m stoked.”
