Trestles Pro 2025: Day One
Trestles Pro 2025: Day One
Thirteen men's heats and four women's heats concluded today at 3-5ft Trestles with glassy conditions deteriorating slightly through the day under south wind bump. Both Opening Rounds were run and done with five men's Elimination Heats finished before the day was called.
Wildcard Kelly Slater surfed his first Trestles event since 2017 and was eliminated in straight sets after two showings that ranged from poor to mediocre. We have to go back almost a decade to 2016 for Kelly's last showing in a CT at Lowers (he missed the last CT event in 2017 with a broken foot incurred at J-Bay). Back then, Kelly racked up six excellent rides and was eliminated in the Quarter-Final by Filipe Toledo despite a 15.60 heat total. The ensuing decade has not been kind to Kelly's performance surfing. He was bundled out today with totals of 7.53 and 10.40.
Kelly (WSL/Nolan)
Typically, he refused to concede to reality in his post presser. He started on a petulant note, saying he was in Australia prior to the Trestles event and didn't even want to surf in the contest. He ran through a list of things which had affected his performance: too nervous, missed the ending on waves, family life/sleep disruption, injured etc etc. He claimed credit for a win at Pipe over Barron, which no-one had been able to do since.
It wasn't exactly an interview brimming with any grace or humility considering how scarce wildcard opportunities at CT level are. In other words, classic Slater. To be fair, he did ride a wave after the hooter with some sharp turns and a well executed air that may have got the score over his opponent Barron Mamiya who was, by this stage, prone on the beach after injuring his knee.
Is this the last Slater wildcard? Who now would hand one over knowing he may not even want to take it? Or worse, take it and then trash it if he gets knocked early.
Judges were stingy as hell in the Opening Round, only awarding one excellent score to Italo Ferriera for a lofted backside rotation.
If they wanted an extra gear out of the men, they failed to get it. Performances were solid, not spectacular. Italo with an 8 and a 7, and Griff with two high 7's set the benchmarks.
Italo (WSL/Nolan)
By the time the women came on, judges were in a more generous mood. 8's and near-8's fell like confetti. Perhaps due in part to the sun coming out and the sheer attractiveness of diamond-sparkling Trestles being dismantled by the gals.
The post-cut womens Tour is miniscule - four heats of three gets through the Opening Round. It almost feels like a local boardriders event. The first three heats were clear cut with Lakey, Gabby Bryan, and Bettylou running away with, or on the back of, excellent rides. The final heat was closer but decided by Molly Picklum blasting the back out of a left for an 8.00 ride.
Both World Champ Caity Simmers and touted World Champ Erin Brooks looked out of sorts. Caity fell and looked flat and disinterested. Erin bought the typical energy to her heat but the Trestles canvas was not flattering to her surfing. Everything looked forced and jerky, full of seams and punctuation marks. Somehow Erin looks both undercooked (as far as technique and style goes) and hideously overcooked (as far as over-forcing everything goes). Her sheer talent will likely prevail but for now, she's in a weird spot. If she fails the Final 5 it'll be a bitter pill knowing she would be red hot favourite at a wave she once made the rest of the field look second-rate.
Erin (WSL/Nolan)
When the expanded women's tour kicks off next year it's architect, at least as far as we understand that to be the case, will not be around to see it. JMD kicks out, or is gently pushed out of the WSL nest after Trestles. A few words seem appropriate.
Farewell Jessi. You done good for women's surfing. We'll never know through the opaque structure of Woz messaging who was responsible for what but if you were the one responsible for equal pay, consolidated tours, and an expanded women's roster you made a massive difference to women's pro surfing. Rising Tides has been an incredible success, demonstrated by participants now on tour (Erin Brooks) or close to it.
Your effect on pro surfing as a whole is more ambiguous. What did you want for the sport? You never expressed any vision or made any connection with fans. Right from the get go you served up a particularly thin gruel of corpo-speak when talking to us, or as a substitute for talking to us. Whenever you spoke it was flat and one-dimensional and it always seemed evasive and slippery. Like you were trying to conceal something from us instead of openly letting us know what was happening. It made it hard to get behind you. Maybe you were trying to hide something..?
You knew what happened to Elo. You knew who was architect of all the changes wrought on the sport. Maybe it was you? Elo was a kook from Oklahoma who didn't have the knowledge to conceive of those changes. Yet you let him carry the can for it. And you were still in charge when all that was jettisoned, acknowledging what a disaster it was. Why? Were the innovations you championed now worthless, or even destructive to the sport? I guess we will never know.
You, unlike Elo got to leave on good terms, no doubt signing iron-clad NDA's before you emptied your drawer. The sport has been adrift under your stewardship Jessi, no clearer indication of that then 16 World Titles worth of star power deciding to walk away from the Tour or the gobsmacking calls which have left surf fans shaking their heads. You never really let us know what was going on, or why, so it's hard to make an assessment on how your vision of pro surfing can be adjudicated. It remains a blank. But we still wish you well.
Ethan (WSL/Sharon)
Five heats of mens Elimination Round done, including the aforementioned one where Barron Mamiya beat Kelly on one leg. Kanoa easily accounted for wildcard Dimitri Poulos. Joel Vaughan beat Miggy Pupo who only caught one wave.
Joao Chianca bettered Rio Waida who fell on a prime, heat-winning set wave.
Alejo Muniz offered up a frenzied performance but fell just short to a classier Ethan Ewing. After a patchy Aussie treble Ewing needs to right the ship if he is to paddle out at Cloudbreak in September, something he acknowledged on the glass. “I'm looking for a big result,” he claimed.
Constants from the last time Trestles was on Tour: Jordy Smith, Filipe Toledo, and Lakey Peterson still looked like the front-runners, despite almost a decade of so-called progression. Something to ponder. Despite this seeming stasis, it was still a fun watch.
//STEVE SHEARER
Lexus Trestles Pro Men’s Opening Round Results:
HEAT 1: Cole Houshmand (USA) 13.80 DEF. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.20, Rio Waida (INA) 10.24
HEAT 2: Yago Dora (BRA) 11.54 DEF. Connor O'Leary (JPN) 10.93, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 9.63
HEAT 3: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 15.17 DEF. Marco Mignot (FRA) 8.77, Kelly Slater (USA) 7.53
HEAT 4: Jordy Smith (RSA) 11.86 DEF. Crosby Colapinto (USA) 11.84, Dimitri Poulos (USA) 9.53
HEAT 5: Jake Marshall (USA) 13.24 DEF. Barron Mamiya (HAW) 12.90, Seth Moniz (HAW) 8.20
HEAT 6: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.40 DEF. Joel Vaughan (AUS) 11.04, Ethan Ewing (AUS) 10.10
HEAT 7: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 12.40 DEF. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.77, Joao Chianca (BRA) 11.13
HEAT 8: Jack Robinson (AUS) 11.74 DEF. Alan Cleland (MEX) 10.33, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 6.87
Lexus Trestles Pro Men’s Elimination Round Results (Heats 1-5):
HEAT 1: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.73 DEF. Dimitri Poulos (USA) 10.50
HEAT 2: Joel Vaughan (AUS) 12.13 DEF. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 6.27
HEAT 3: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 11.97 DEF. Kelly Slater (USA) 10.40
HEAT 4: Joao Chianca (BRA) 12.93 DEF. Rio Waida (INA) 11.70
HEAT 5: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.93 DEF. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.37
Lexus Trestles Pro Women’s Opening Round Results:
HEAT 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) 15.53 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 10.70, Tyler Wright (AUS) 10.50
HEAT 2: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 15.17 DEF. Kirra Pinkerton (USA) 12.77, Luana Silva (BRA) 9.27
HEAT 3: Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 14.47 DEF. Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 13.80, Caitlin Simmers (USA) 10.50
HEAT 4: Molly Picklum (AUS) 12.67 DEF. Erin Brooks (CAN) 12.26, Caroline Marks (USA) 11.80
Comments
Man, Slats is just a piece of shit.
Perfectly summed up.
Really takes the urine these days doesn’t he.
He's done the honourable thing all sponsors wildcards should, get knocked asap
he is. only his massive surfing talent and equally massive competion genius can be respected. the rest of him is delusional and narcissistic.
to be fair to GOAT no one else gets the opportunity to talk post loss... some might even call it a stitch up putting a mic in front him knowing how unhinged he is.
Was always a Slater fan, buy yeah enough is enough.
Retire with grace.... but that is probably too late now.
Bad, bad loser, really needs a someone to tell him he is being a dick and to out and be humble. Unfortunately in a solo sport where he has been so successful he gets away with it. Wouldn't happen in AFL his ex team mates would give it to him.
I didn't see the post-heat interview, but Steve's summary of KS's comments is very different to the prior KS comments before the contest:
“I’m excited to surf Lowers after having a few months of downtime with family and watching the events online. Surfing this event obviously makes good sense with Outerknown sponsoring the event and celebrating our 10th anniversary. Trestles has been an ongoing great memory for the past 35 years since I won my first event as a professional there, had a number of great wins there while on tour, and is my girlfriend’s hometown and a second home to me. "
Go figure...
Modified after he got last place, would be the obvious explanation.
'Didn't want to surf in the contest'..........my gosh. Made what was a joke appointment into a complete farce. Hopefully was his last one. His peers must just eye roll.
Didn't see any of it. Reads pretty ho-hum?
What a snoozefest.
Whens the next decent comp.
Like watching dancing bears on tiny stools.
agree, problem these days is there's more events i say this than not
the tour seems a far cry from a dream anymore
i wanna see the best in the world surfing waves of consequence that mere mortals aren't able
#slabtour anyone?
Woke up to an email from the Wozzle to say it was “pumping”. It wasn’t. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of KS and JMD for a while
I think the criticism of JMD is a bit unfair, and I say that not from knowing her but knowing corporate media/sports businesses. They're big and lumbering and lots of talking with not much doing is the modus operandi of them all.
While I haven't read the WSL constitution, that kind of thing is exactly what a leader is there to fix.
Agree on JMD
Sports Admin is full of Spin. (NRL/AFL anyone....)
You have to manage the stakeholders.......Owners, Sponsors, Fans, Competitors, Legal
Thats a difficult job, and sometimes its better to be non specific in public and work on issues in the background. Transparency & Honesty is a luxury that rarely pays well.
I also agree that I think it's a bit unfair. Since she took on the role they have had a terrible run with swell. Not to mention some crap choices, like Portugal in March instead of October, which from memory is the better time of year.
So I reckon she's had a bad hand dealt to her and probably had very little sway in running contests. And she definitely would not have had the freedom to speak honestly during contests. Same as the commentators.
x 2.
All taken onboard and duly noted but serving multiple masters couldn't have been easy. No question she made some diabolical calls over the years but those were probably made with one hand tied behind her back.
Anyhoo- go Jordy!
Also- have to disagree with Julio this morning, Ethan definitely buries the rail.
JMD
When all is said and done a lot more is ……..
You know the rest
JMD & KP debrief. Film it.
?si=hmJroqcRoPFAxbB6I didn't see the KS interview either but it sounds like he should of retired with some grace, to make negative comments after being given a wild card is disrespectful to the sport (such as it is). Competitive surfing has given him so much. There is much to admire about his surfing and his contest record but its diminishing quickly.
Thing is slats just draws the views… I wouldn’t be surprised if more wildcards turn up like Mason, JOB, Nate, Koa etc because otherwise is a bunch of dudes slamming the bottom 20 crew of journeyman. Sad to see Barron injured he is one of the only crew backside that could take Yago or Italo at cloudbreak
You're right. I just checked the highlights on YouTube. The Kelly Slater heat "highlights" have many, many more views than the next person/group of people.
Multiple world champ and Griff got a thirtieth of the views. Lol.
There's a lesson for aspiring pros there. Maybe develop your personality, you're entertainers! Be entertaining! If you can't rock n roll, don't fucking come!
Yeah not totally sure on the KS thing. I'm half thinking the comments were a bit of an excuse and he may not have meant them to come out as they sounded. That's charitable i guess but i'm giving him some benefit of the doubt. There's lots of KS haters around here and i still think he's worthy of the odd wild card especially in heavy waves. A critical look at his heat and Baron only hurt himself on his last wave. KS fell twice and then as mentioned would have got the score needed if his final wave was 30 seconds earlier. No massive gap in performance there. But then again Baron does not look that amazing in small performance waves either. An enjoyable day for me watching
he's been making very similar comments for the past 20 years. it's standard GOAT post heat-loss. he's an ungracious sook. i think it's the reason he's one of the only competitors that gets an interview after a loss.
my Mrs watches none of the surfing but i have no trouble getting her to watch his post heat-loss interviews.
Was there any explanation on what happened to Tyler Wright? Fell asleep for a heat or two, so I might have missed the post-heat interview with her, or info, which the commentator's said they would try and get. Bummer for Baron too. He looked like he was pacing himself nicely to peak further on in the event. And you are right Steve, the judges were really stingy. Some of Jordy and Kanoa's waves were badly underscored in the early heats. Cramping the scores in the miserly 5 and 6 point range does nobody any favours, especially the judges themselves. Use the full scale more generously, please judges, and separation of winners and losers becomes easier, and with less controversy. Cheers.
Glassy 3-5ft.... Imagine your first heat was against Italo, you watch him take off inside you...
four and more buckets of spray fly ... and he scores a... 7
S*it; you wait for the magic wave that never comes...
meanwhile Italo is entertaining the crowd with his tricks.
Cole throws lots of power turns like Italo for a 7.
Hope the sun shines for the next round...
Thanks Steve for your penchant perspective.
So Slater sat there and didn’t take off on a wave until 4:28 to go in his opening round.
To be honest even with the fluffy, glassy conditions, and as fun as Trestles looks the surfing wasnt getting me too exited. I watched most of the Changa comp in Newy and was much more tuned into some of those battles than the 'Next Level CT'. Prob seen too much surfning lately, and post-cut syndrome could be the culprit but was impressed by the variety I saw last week. Im sure the comp will come to life, and me, in the coming week.
I like watching him surf still and his commentary sometimes is good but he really does come across as a bit of a tosser at times .
Comes across and is
Ever since I saw that clip with JMD on the side ,cocktails in hand with tyler while Mikey Wright rescued some kook out front of their rental on the north shore I knew something was not right with the situation .
Can someone oversea the whole organisation and be best mates with one of champions without it being some kind of conflict of interest?
So many weak calls over the years and letting athletes decide if they want to surf or not .
Who will be taking over the role? Is Fred Hemmings still alive?
Ah Kelly. Explains why he neglected his first child. Walking around with all that self interest and ego is tiring. Understandable why he had no time. Appears almost 30 years later, nothing has changed.
2 enjoyable roasts back to back, that was entertaining, have to wonder what slater was having a sook about, is the ego really still that fragile, strange bloke, funny shit!! Agree fully with the JMD part, the shifty energy she brought really didn't fit the role at all
I think the issue with Erin was summed up in the commentary - maybe Jessie said it - she has a two stage attack. She comes off the bottom hard...then pauses...then attacks it again. When you watch Molly's 8 on her backhand it was all one smooth motion, Not disjointed at all. Erin has the moves but her transitions between turns is limited at this point in her career. She will refine it. Maybe she needs to watch some Parko She is still a very young person on every level. But she will refine things over time I am sure. At any rate she has 10 times the variety of CM and that is something we should all celebrate.
I always will read the freedride reviews but this ain’t up there
Slater has a dad bod to go along with that long time chrome dome now.Yet STILL he's in denial that Father Time caught up with him quite some time ago in CT venues that aren't Pipe or Chopes.
The WSL tolerates his geriatric ego because he's the GOAT obviously.
They will for a lot longer yet too it seems.
wsl sucking up to surfranch and its amazing watermen today.. yep, for a bewildering while yet.. let's hope he's JMD mk II and can find a way to be front and centre without feeling he needs to be a semi-clad ripper. (it's not quite dad bod though, is it.. I'm the same age, wouldn't say no to that frame, ks just has that inevitable thickening of the skin.. kinda got that subtle mickey rourke thing creeping in.. maybe he's waterlogged..)
I'd call it a dad bod compared to his younger bod.
His chest looks to be developing a bit of man boobs tendency to my eyes.
Again,just by his fitness standards to previously.
He's the best surfer in the world over 50 hands down
Maybe even 40.
Problem for him though is that just about every other surfer on tour is well under 40.
And an evolving dad bod is definitely not gonna help a 53 year old stay in that mix.
Maybe if he hits the gym with an emphasis on bench press and pec dec exercises he'll find competitive relevancy again in CT comps that aren't Pipe and Chopes lol.
yeh, well put, and yer right, just cos it's a good dad bod don't make it not a dad bod..
Lakey?
ha
Gabby is going to win
The only thing that interests me about pro surfing these days is Steve's write ups and the sight of a Hobie cat sailing past in the background.
He had the shits…. That’s why Kelly said what he said….and at the time probably didn’t care how he came across..