Matt Wilkinson, victorious. Photo: WSL/Ed Sloane
We can hand most of the blame (or credit) to Kelly Sltaer. The WSL Championship Tour hasn’t exactly been full of surprises the last two decades. That’s not to say it’s been missing action, but it did become rather predictable for a time. From 1994 to 2013 we watched 16 of the 20 World Titles captured by three surfers. Kelly won 10, while Mick Fanning and the late Andy Irons each took three. We can even assign a bit of nitpicking to the other four; Occy and Sunny both won while Slater strayed away from the tour, as did CJ Hobgood during a shortened season and Parko was knocking on the door for years before he finally broke through.
The tour had become a story of the same faces reaching the podium over and over again.
At the height of the Kelly-AI rivalry, nobody even considered the idea of another surfer winning the crown and they were right. After AI’s fall came the rise of White Lightning and Mick became a perennial contender, winning two titles in three years. When Parko won, the real surprise was that it had taken him so long. Bottom line: These eras were predictable. We knew who had a real shot at the world title and it was not a long list.
However, it appears we have entered foreign territory now. Heading into Tahiti, Matt Wilkinson stands atop the Jeep Leaderboard. The same Matt Wilkinson who was on the verge of not requaliying in recent years. Behind him sits a 23-year-old icon and a 22-year-old former World Champ, John John Florence and Gabriel Medina. Rounding out the Top 5 are 2015 World Champion Adriano De Souza and current part-timer Fanning. Who is going to win this race? Your guess is as good as mine.
Wilko can’t keep it up, can he? The jovial Aussie has made three finals this season and won
two of them, and while he seems more disciplined under coach Micro Hall, I think most people are holding their breath for the seemingly inevitable stumbles that will cost him the crown in the end.
John John is probably the most talented and dynamic surfer in the world, but the only consistent thing about his competitive career has been his inconsistency. He’s more focused this year, which may make all the difference, but we’ve still seen priority mistakes and the like from him this season.
Medina looked unstoppable when he took home the World Title in 2014, but he has been oddly inconsistent over the past two years. He may be the favorite for top honors in the rankings using a combination of history, logic and the eye test, but not the points system.
As for Adriano, he may be the defending champ but did anyone honestly think he was going to win that title until the moment Mick was officially bumped before the Pipe final? Further, does anyone expect a repeat? No disrespect to the Brazilian, but De Souza’s surfing often lacks that wow factor one expects from a champion.
Mick would be the favorite any other year, but he’s not surfing on tour full-time, and who can blame him? So where does that leave us? Does anybody know? Is anyone listening to me?
Who else do we have?
Julian Wilson has all the ability in the world, but he’s carrying three 25ths to go with a second and a third this year. Is Italo Ferreira championship material? Jordy Smith is having a resurgent season, but has his title window closed? Filipe Toledo missed too many events due to injury. And Kelly…is 44 years old.
The consistency in the rankings we’ve grown used to seems to have gone the way of the dodo. Hell, Sebastian Zietz is ranked in the Top 10 right now and he’s not even officially on the tour roster. Don’t take this all as one big complaint, though. We’re finally living in an age where upsets are commonplace and the title is not a foregone conclusion. We’ve left the comfort zone for a place where we can’t predict what happens next. Enjoy the ride.
