Margs sends the bombs but it's John John who blows up
MARGARET RIVER, Western Australia/AUS (Saturday, April 1, 2017) - In one of Australia’s biggest days in recent competitive surfing history, The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro witnessed the world’s best surfers take on Main Break in 8-to-12 foot waves, with sets in the 15 foot range.
The day ran through men’s Rounds 3 and 4 and saw major players eliminated, while four surfers secured their place in the Quarterfinals.
The competition started with a massive upset, seeing 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA) dispatched by second-year CT surfer Jack Freestone (AUS). Both surfers tackled the towering waves at Main Break, charging down fifteen-foot sets, but it was the underdog Freestone who locked in a 7.33 early on for the lead and continued to charge with a 6.50 backup. Slater posted two 5-point rides, but it was not enough to challenge. Slater will leave with an Equal 13th place finish.
“The waves are so good today,” said Freestone. “I didn’t know what the situation was until the last two minutes, but knew you can never leave [Kelly] Slater alone until the heat is over as he is capable of anything. It’s so good to come away with a win in a heat like that.”
“I don’t really like surfing the early heats,” Slater said. “The waves are amazing today and I think maybe I got a bit over amped and was just going for those bigger ones and trying to get barreled instead of being smart. It’s hard not to get over excited when the waves are like this, especially when you haven’t seen waves like this for a while. This is a great event and when it all lines up, it could definitely be one of the best on tour.”
Jack Freestone attacks the lip of a massive Main Break set to defeat 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater. Credit: © WSL / Sloane
Freestone went on to face current Jeep Rankings Leader Owen Wright (AUS) and 2017 World Title contender Julian Wilson (AUS) in the opening heat of non-elimination Round 4. The young competitor took on massive sets in an attempt to cause another big upset, but Wright closed the door on his rivals with a lethal 17.44 combined score. Wright’s win earns him the first spot in the Quarterfinals, while Freestone and Wilson will have to do battle in elimination Round 5.
“That was my first ever heat with Jack [Freestone], which was really cool," Wright said. “I missed his first year on tour so it was cool to finally have a heat with him. Jack was on fire as well and made me really work hard for it. That was my best heat out there so far, it would be nice if I could keep building momentum like this.”
Current World No. 1 Owen Wright comes hard off the bottom of a bomb. Credit: © WSL / Dunbar
2016 WSL Champion John John Florence (HAW) continued his devastating form at The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro by posting a near-perfect heat total of 19.16 to move into the Quarterfinals over Michel Bourez (PYF) and Conner Coffin (USA). Florence looked to be having a blast as he attacked Main Break with reckless abandon.
“That was so fun out there,” Florence said. “It just feels great to let loose and have fun. It’s really similar to the waves back at home in Hawaii, just super raw and powerful. It’s such a big playing field out there just so open ocean. I feel like now that I have won the title, I am a lot more relaxed and that felt really obvious to me today.”
Florence previously took down local favorite Jacob Willcox (AUS) in Round 3 Heat 6. Willcox put up a strong performance with an excellent 8.17 and 6.77, but the reigning World Champion looked too comfortable in the Main Break lineup, firing back with a near-perfect 9.57 and 9.70 for the highest heat score of the event thus far, an exceptional 19.27.
“I knew that was going to be a tough heat,” Willcox said. “In pumping waves against the WSL Champion is never going to be easy. I’m just stoked I got to experience it. There were some massive waves out there, which is great for the event. It was a shame not to get the win but John [Florence] really deserves it, he was ripping. It was cool having the hometown support. I loved it.”
Defending event winner Sebastian Zietz (HAW) put up a solid fight in Heat 3 of Round 4, but was out done by a fired-up Adriano de Souza (BRA). The 2015 WSL Champion is moving closer to taking out his second Drug Aware Margaret River Pro title, while Zeitz and Jordy Smith (ZAF) will have another shot at the Quarterfinals when they hit the water in Round 5. En route to his Quarterfinal berth, De Souza dispatched Bede Durbidge (AUS) in Round 3 Heat 9.
“I am so exhausted after today -- it’s been a massive workout,” De Souza said. “I surfed at The Box first thing this morning and then two heats in massive waves at Main Break. It’s been such a big day. It is really nice to have some solid surf at an event. I love coming to Margaret River. I have had success here in the past and I hope that continues this year.”
Adriano de Souza unleashes sharp railcarves to earn his first Quarterfinal berth of the season. Credit: © WSL / Dunbar
The final heat of Round 4 saw Jeremy Flores (FRA), Filipe Toledo (BRA) and Kolohe Andino (USA) all under pressure to earn the opportunity to skip straight through to the Quarterfinals. Toledo was all business as he got an early lead, but was then challenged by Andino and Flores. The heat exchanged multiple leaders, but Andino emerged victorious with a 14.77 combined score. Injury replacement Nat Young (USA) came up against Andino earlier today in Round 3, but Andino’s form was too strong for his good friend Young.
“Last heat of a long day is always tough,” Andino said. “There were some massive scores going down today so to get two heat wins feels really good. It was good to watch a lot of heats today and draw inspiration from the way the other guys surf. I’m a total student of the sport and am lucky enough to learn from the best.”
2012 WSL Champion Joel Parkinson (AUS) was eliminated from the draw by Flores in Round 3 Heat 10. Parkinson, who earned a 3rd place finish at this event in 2016, will take a 13th place result heading into Bells Beach.
2017 WSL Rookies Ian Gouveia (BRA) and Connor O’Leary (AUS) were not able to survive their fierce elimination Round 3 match-ups, as they were taken out by Wright and Toledo, respectively.
Caio Ibelli (BRA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Kanoa Igarashi (USA), Miguel Pupo (BRA) and event wildcard Jesse Mendes (AUS) were also eliminated from the event in Round 3 and will exit with an Equal 13th place finish.
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Jack Freestone (AUS) 13.83 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 11.07
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.84 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 3.33
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 14.24 def. Ian Gouveia (BRA) 11.67
Heat 4: Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.27 def. Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 10.83
Heat 5: Conner Coffin (USA) 15.57 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.43
Heat 6: John John Florence (HAW) 19.27 def. Jacob Willcox (AUS) 14.94
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.83 def. Jesse Mendes (BRA) 9.67
Heat 8: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 15.34 def. Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.67 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.66
Heat 10: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.80 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 8.53
Heat 11: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 11.96 def. Connor O’Leary (AUS) 9.84
Heat 12: Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.54 def. Nat Young (USA) 10.83
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Round 4 Results:
Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) 17.44, Jack Freestone (AUS) 15.80, Julian Wilson (AUS) 11.86
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) 19.16, Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.23, Conner Coffin (USA) 11.50
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.83, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.40, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 9.96
Heat 4: Kolohe Andino (USA) 14.77, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.00, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.43
Comments
JJF was just another level...which is remarkable considering the quality of the other surfers...it was just like his recent video clip those rail carves but in a comp...unbeatable...
Totally agree.
On another note, very impressed with young Jacob Willcox. Seems like a nice young fella and a refreshing change to hear somebody that can actually string a sentence together whilst being interviewed.
Bit of a head fuck thinking about JJF's surfing yesterday. It's hard to identify what he was doing, how he wrangled a 6'2" through the biggest turns of the day when others were riding boards six inches longer, except to say he was just doing things better. And what a dull and unworthy description that is.
Even Slater's very best surfing, and there's been a few peaks over the years, could be disassembled with the constituent parts identified: the body mechanics, the mind games, the board choices. But fuck, JJF's surfing - at least what happened yesterday - is relatively inscrutable. What is he doing that allows him to draw fifty metre turns through the soup on a ten foot wave while riding a 6'2"? Even Pete Mel humbly fell silent, unable to make sense of what he was seeing.
John's post-heat interviews betrayed nothing but happy Labrador platitudes, his board appears a bog standard 6'2", there's no easy explanation for how he can do it...except for packing a paramount skill set.
Would love to know how a surfing coach would analyse and explain what he did in those two heats.
On a side note: Can anyone recall the last time such big scores were thrown at surfing that didn't include any barrels or airs?
In my cursory look at JJF's heats, he never went hard off the bottom. He was getting a lot of speed by staying on the top half of the wave (even jagged a barrel). Almost like the trough and lower transition was redundant in generating speed, and when you look at the water angle it sort of adds up. The guys going hard off the bottom and trying to go vert were left at the top with no speed left, and then has to deal with free fall into a strong breeze
Just like Bells Kaiser can get lost down the bottom. You could tell he was on a smaller board as he was sliding heaps but the guy is so gifted he just uses the release to his advantage. Freak.
He was surfing amazing on a totally different level to everyone else, only other time I've seen such a big gap is Kelly in his prime.
The only person left in the draw that believes they can beat JJF is Adriano.
Agree. Even though there as daylight after JJF, ADS dutifully plugged away in his heats and strung some very nice turns together that would've made the highlight package on any other day. Get the feeling this is just the way he'd like it, with all the eyes on the other guy and no pressure on himself
Given that JJF is in his element, as he said 'let loose and had fun', I don't think anyone will come close in these conditions. I don't think I've seen such a heat in such conditions. Just fantastic.
Saw one heat there. That one. The Wilcox one. Peak of the tide. Sets pumping.
Florence was otherworldly. In context. By comparison. In hindsight.
To illustrate. A latter moment that had all heads shaking. Be they local hotties, grizzled vets, nay-sayers, groms, Joe/Jo Public. JJF's first turn, foot slip-off recovery. THAT recovery.
Replayed in ultra-slow motion. Big screen. Cinematic.
Technique. Zen. Playfulness. I dunno. Words fail.
Otherworldly.
As an aside, it was good they got the youngsters out at Southside for their thing same time. Good effort, young 'uns. Faith in youth.
All of the above...
My favourite thing was when he said something along the lines of "now that I've won a title I can start to relax and let loose in my heats"
Oh Lordy, if he stays injury free it's gunna be fun viewing
JJF was definitely a step above but that offshore had backed off compared to the earlier heats and the waves seemed a bit more organised which made it a bit easier for him to go to town.
In his second heat the onshore had come up which presented its own set of problems with a bumpy wave face, and yet he still scored over 19 points.
One of the things that I think was critical in JJF's surfing was how light he was on his feet and how much time the board was essentially unweighted. It was like he was simultaneously kicking the board on a trajectory and jumping to follow it. That really doesn't do him justice but it's the best explanation I can come up with. The rest were standing strong, bracing themselves against the chop. One of the commentators, Peter Mel I think also pointed out that he was not running as far into the base of the wave with his turns as the others which was increasing his speed. Whatever the technical analysis it was amazing surfing and set the standard for anyone considering a title challenge this year.
Michel Bourez is such an old school type surfer big power turns and floaters, not my fav surfer by any means but in solid waves it's kind of refreshing to see.
Quote: Both surfers tackled the towering waves at Main Break, charging down fifteen-foot sets"
Quote:"the world’s best surfers take on Main Break in 8-to-12 foot waves, with sets in the 15 foot range"
Any photos?
Fucking Pottz, jibbering for the sake of jibbering.
What mistake did Carissa make? None. She was outsurfed by Sally Fitz, fair and square.
Onya Sal.
There is a nice rivalry on the boil at the world tour.
Potts wishing a sinkhole would open up and swallow Barton during the post show.
Poor fella looked like the stale boyfriend watching his long term girl being dazzled by the effervescent and interesting single man at the dinner party .
The commentary team ain't big enough for two late '80s world champs.
yeah agree Barton is actually worth listening to.Sally ripped but i was surprised by the lack of sportswomanship by Carissa.....go Sally, best ive seen her surf,looks good on those JS boards and looks like shes changed her style a bit for the better.
I've been ignoring the kids for days as this has been by far the most interesting comp for a while. Agree JJF is miles ahead but special mention goes out to Toledo who has been slicing every turn and coming out with amazing speed. Sal v Steph is a blockbuster - normally I would be saying Gilmore but Sal is absolutely on fire in WA. Would love a final @ The Box to add a slab to the mix. Great variety so far.
Fantastic comp, lots of nostalgia here for growing up & surfing this region. Some of those caught inside moments, experienced smaller versions that hit very hard! JJF's performance was mind blowing, to my way of thinking he made some pretty big waves look a lot smaller, and less consequential. That recovery, too!
Did anyone else notice Seabass doing an entire left in poo-stance and managing quite a respectable backhand snap as well? Respect.
Agree with all the praise of JJF's performance. Mind blowing.
This is also the first comp where Slater looks noticeably... old. Stiff lower body, balance and timing all off, arms all over the place. While John John and Kelly have seemed competitive over the last couple of years, I think it might all be over. I hate to say it, but there's no comparison now in conditions like these.