Wright and Toledo ringing the Bell for the first time. Photo: Matt Dunbar/World Surf League
Bells Beach is one of the most iconic CT stops in history. As the longest running event on tour, it provides a challenging arena with long paddles and tricky sections. And with mid-season cuts just a round the corner, winning the historic event was more critical than ever this year.
Heading into the finals, we saw matchups between five-time world champ and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore and two-time world champ Tyler Wright, and Brazilian powerhouse Filipe Toledo and CT rookie Callum Robson.
Heading into finals, three-time Bells winner Moore was looking to add a fourth win to her collection while Wright was trying to claim her first ever win there. Out of the gates, Wright laid down an 8.93 and continued to surf well throughout the heat, backing up her ride in the excellent range with another one: an 8.0. When the buzzer sounded, she’d emphatically notched her 15th CT event win, ringing the Bell for the first time.
“I’d like to thank the Wadawurrung people for welcoming us,” Wright said in her post heat interview. “I’ve been competing here for twelve years — I’ve got second twice and I’ve won two world titles but this feels rather special to me. It’s emotional.”
Although Moore fell just short, her runner-up finish put her back into the yellow jersey heading into Margaret River. Wright sits just behind in second, hungry for another world title.
After falling just short of ringing the Bell in 2019, Toledo headed into Bells Beach 2022 on a mission. In the finals, he went head-to-head with Australia’s Robson. Despite Robson’s impressive run over the course of the event, Toledo, a genius in small surf, was able to take out Bells Beach for the first time in his career.
Heading into the Margaret River, Toledo secured the number one ranking while the upstart Robson sits in the number six position.
“It’s hard to keep the momentum and the rhythm with cancelled contests,” Toledo said in his post heat interview regarding the past few years. “I’m really happy to be back here and I couldn’t be happier with the birthday present. Robson was not messing around, he was going full and wanted to take the Bell — it was a really good heat.”
“There were so many moments along the way, I feel like I rode every different emotion throughout this event,” Robson said in his post-heat interview. “There’s not one moment that stands out but just the event as a whole. I’m just stoked to get to finals day and be on the podium.”
With Bells Beach wrapped and just one event left before mid-season cuts, a number of surfers have already secured their positions for the second half of the tour. On the men’s side, Filipe Toledo, Kanoa Igarashi, John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Barron Mamiya, Italo Ferreira, Caio Ibelli, Ethan Ewing, Miguel Pupo, Seth Moniz, Callum Robson, Griffin Colapinto, and Jack Robinson will all be moving forward. For the women, Carissa Moore, Brisa Hennessy, Tyler Wright, and Lakey Peterson have also secured their positions. Who will be joining them for the duration of the 2022 tour? The Margaret River Pro will tell us a lot. Stay tuned.
