Kelly Slater’s surfing just hit differently during the opening round of the Margaret River Pro. The 51-year-old looked absolutely inspired in the pristine conditions at Main Break. So much so, in fact, that he took down Joao Chianca, who currently holds the yellow jersey. And made it look easy. Two turns stood out: an opening layback snap featuring Kelly’s iconic exclamation point (see style), and a deep bottom turn that he transferred into a past-vertical top hit. Both maneuvers set the tone for Kelly during the best heat of his year. He got back on the power-surfing train as he works to get himself above the cutline (he’s currently two spots below it at 26).
Speaking of the cut, a number of surfers facing relegation came up huge. Kolohe Andino the most notable. Sitting at 30, the San Clemente native took down Yago Dora and pushed Kanoa Igarashi into the elimination round. Igarashi is in a precarious position himself and is now looking up, despite hovering just above the cut. Ezekiel Lau came out with his hair on fire (sitting way below the cutline, so he needed to) beating Ian Gentil and sending Caio Ibelli to the elimination heat.
The standouts all season continued to standout. John John Florence’s connection to Western Oz was again apparent – and fun to watch as he cruised to a heat win over Seth Moniz and Carlos Munoz with two scores in the excellent range. Meanwhile, Griffin Colapinto stayed on a tear, looking spicey throughout his heat with Nat Young and Reef Haezlewood (Reef’s heading to the elimination side of the tourney too).
All in all, a nice changeup for the WSL, which has been cursed of late with poor conditions and small-ish surf throughout the opening events of the 2023 season. The forecast finally looks promising.
