Erin Brooks and Griffin Colapinto raising their flags aloft after victories at the 2024 Fiji Pro. Photos: Matt Dunbar, Aaron Hughes // WSL
Erin Brooks and Griffin Colapinto have won the 2024 Fiji Pro. The event, held at Cloudbreak, was the ninth and penultimate stop on the World Surf League 2024 Championship Tour.
On the women’s side, 17-year-old wunderkind Erin Brooks claimed a win that was historic not only for being her first CT appearance in her career, but also the first time a Canadian has won a Championship Tour event. “I just feel so good, and I am so thankful for this win,” Brooks said. “I feel so thankful for the opportunity to even come to this contest and compete as a wildcard. I was putting pressure on myself at the start, and I just needed to relax and have fun surfing with all my heroes. Everyone here was focusing on their Final 5 spots, and I just needed to focus on having fun and getting good waves.”
Erin Brooks in heat two of the semifinals. Photo: Matt Dunbar//WSL
The final was a goofy-foot matchup against Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb. Weston-Webb took a narrow lead for the majority of the heat, with both surfers laying down mid-range scores. However, Brooks came into her own in the final 10 minutes, when a standout set afforded her the opportunity to earn a 7.34 that propelled her into the lead.
“It was so cool to come up against Tati [Weston-Webb] in the final,” Brooks continued. “As one of the only goofy footer girls on Tour, I’ve always looked up to her and to share a final with her was so special. I’ll remember this day forever, and I can’t wait to make it on to the CT because this is just so much fun.”
The win puts Brooks in the number four spot on the Challenger Series rankings and poised to qualify for the Championship Tour. Meanwhile, Tatiana Weston-Webb’s second-place finish takes her from seventh on the CT to the all-important final five, just in time for finals.
The men’s event came down to a showdown between San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto and Indonesia’s Rio Waida. Their battle was also a historical first, with Rio Waida’s result marking the first time an Indonesian has been in a CT final. After a back-and-forth battle that saw the lead change hands multiple times, Colapinto laid down a 6.13 for a two-wave total of 12.80 that clinched the victory.
Griffin Colapinto in heat one of the Quarterfinals. Photo: Aaron Hughes//WSL
“This means a lot to me,” Colapinto said. “With this being such a world-class wave and a left-hander, it gives me a lot of gratitude for all the training I’ve done in my life and all of the time I’ve put into my backside surfing. I wasn’t that confident about my backside, and I’ve worked on it a lot, so to win here surfing like this feels amazing. I’m feeling like I’m building now, and my surfing is in a good place, so I’m excited to head home and start planning for the Finals.”
As the second-to-last event in the season, the Fiji Pro locks in the final five, a one-day, winner-take-all competition at Lower Trestles. The competition window runs from Friday, September 6, through Saturday, September 14, 2024.
Full results can be found here. The final five competitors are below.
WSL Final 5 Women
1 – Caity Simmers (USA)
2 – Caroline Marks (USA)
3 – Brisa Hennessy (CRC)
4 – Molly Picklum (AUS)
5 – Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
WSL Final 5 Men
1 – John John Florence (HAW)
2 – Griffin Colapinto (USA)
3 – Jack Robinson (AUS)
4 – Ethan Ewing (AUS)
5 – Italo Ferreira (BRA)
