Isabella Nichols surfs in Heat 2 of the Semifinals at the Margaret River Pro. Photo: Matt Dunbar/World Surf League
There was so much going on at Margaret River this year it was a little hard to keep track. Especially here in the States where the WSL’s broadcast from Western Australia filled the witching hours here. As universally discussed, the mid-year cut completely upped the level of drama at Margs, and as Kolohe said, it probably upped the level of surfing as well. So while there wasn’t anything quite like the waves we saw at Pipeline, or some crazy event like a a shark attack (thankfully), this stop was truly one for the books. Putting the mid-season cut aside, here are five reasons it was great.
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Kaipo’s Slip of the Tongue
Ahhh Kaipo. He’s covering Strider’s role out on the Jet Ski, and has made it abundantly clear during the broadcast, Margaret River pushed his limits, both with the cold water (“it’s a little chilly for the kid from Waikiki,” Kaipo quipped at one point) and the 10-12 foot waves. Thank god he had Australia’s best water patrol putting him in – er, I mean keeping him out – of danger when sets appeared on the horizon.
Well, the fear or the cold must have gotten to him by the end of the comp, because Kaipo committed a world-class, blooper-reel-worthy blunder when, in the winner’s post-heat interview with Jack Robinson, he announced that “John John Florence is your champ.” He’s not. Jack Robinson is, and the look of pain on J-Rob’s face as Kaipo committed this Freudian slip spoke volumes (click here for the full video, which was streamed live, let’s not forget).
Two Youngsters Meet in the Women’s Finals
There are a lot of ladies on tour that have a long history with Margaret River, but somehow none of them made the finals. Instead, that honor was to be had by a rookie (Gabriela Bryan) and a “sophomore” (Isabella Nichols). Gabriela is in the midst of her first year on tour and in a struggle to survive the cut, coming into the event one spot below the dreaded line. Well, she proved her worth, taking down Courtney Conlogue in the semis, as well as Tati Weston-Webb in the Round of 16. The Round of 16 went well for Isabella Nichols, who took down Lakey Peterson, another former Margs champ.
Speaking of Isabella, this is her second full season on tour (if we’re considering last season a “full” season) and Margarets was the first event win of her career, a massive achievement for the 24-year-old. The victory sent her from below the cutline into fourth in the world. In a day, she went from worrying about staying on tour to focusing on how she’ll maintain her place in the final five. Have fun at G-Land, Isabella.
Matt Makes the Cut
Matt McGillivray put on one hell of a performance at Margs. He started the event ranked 32, ten full spots below the cut, and is now currently sitting pretty at 19 in the world. How’d he do it? Hard work, without a doubt, and some serious survival instincts. Matt charged through Margarets, putting on a power-surfing show and taking down Kanoa Igarashi in the Round of 32, Sammy Pupo in the Round of 16 to secure his spot above the cutline, and from there it was all icing on the cake, taking down Italo Ferreira before falling to John John in the semifinals. Quite the run. His heat against Kanoa was by far the most exciting what with the implications, and the fact that Kanoa led until the last five minutes, when Matt rose to the challenge and snagged two incredible waves to secure victory.
Round of 16 – Gabriel Medina Joins the Broadcast
We haven’t heard a lot from Gabby this season, and for good reason. The man’s been taking a bit of time to get his head straight, a good reminder that mental health is wildly important, even, and perhaps especially, for pro athletes. Well, after announcing he’ll be back for the second half of the season, starting with G-Land, Gabby joined the broadcast team looking as chipper as ever to discuss his return and catch up on current events in the world of pro surfing.
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Kolohe Adds Some Weight
Kolohe Andino won his round of 32 heat against Jackson Baker, and it looks like he had some help in doing so. The working-man’s surfer came up with a working-man’s solution to the choppy conditions Margaret River saw on Day Four, heading down to the local hardware store and finding a couple of half-pound weights to stick on his board to help cut through the chop. Pretty smart, and judging from the WSL’s reaction in the post above, no rules were broken in the surfboard modification process.
Other highlight moments include Barron’s crazy under-the-lip takeoff in his Round of 16 heat against Jack Robinson, Griffin Colapinto’s fiery attempt to match John John’s performance in the quarterfinals, cutline drama on the women’s side as longtime tour standouts like Malia Manuel and Sally Fitzgibbons were sent down to the Challenger Series, the few barrels we saw (rarities at Margaret River), and so much more. Needless to say, the second half of the season should be a good one.
