Steph Gilmore, COVID, and the Mid-Year Chop

Stu Nettle picture
Stu Nettle (stunet)
Swellnet Dispatch

The Women's Pipe event has already produced a few highlights, however there's one proven Pipe surfer who should've been in the mix yet wasn't - Steph Gilmore.

Steph won the 2012 'Duel For the Jewel' at Pipeline, with a ten-pointer no less, and in 2016 placed first in the Women's Pipe Invitational, yet this year she had to pull out due to COVID protocols. It's worth noting what happened to Steph, because we're likely to see more issues like it this year.

On January 28th, one day before the Pipeline Pro started, Steph fell foul of COVID protocols. It wasn't announced if she actually had the illness, yet the Wozzle's tweet that Steph would be "cleared by January 31" - i.e in three days - implies she'd failed a rapid antigen test but had no visible symptoms.

After the Men ran on the first day of the waiting period, the Women then surfed all day Sunday. A somewhat controversial decision as the swell was small and inconsistent, while the forecast is stacked with waves.

Stuck in iso, Steph watched her Round 1 heat paddle out from the comfort of her loungeroom. She was still in the contest yet her fate was in the hands of organisers.

Then, around midday with the surf waning, Jessi Miley-Dyer made the decision to press on with the Elimination Round, effectively sealing the deal for Steph. Theoretically, a surfer can miss their first round heat yet still compete in the second round. Of course that's impossible if the surfer is in iso and the two rounds are held on the same day.

The next day, January 31st, Steph was released from isolation. Reportedly unhappy with the decision.

Generally the Woz rulebook only gets updated when a surfer deliberately pushes the rules, such as when Medina dropped in on Ibelli, or when Medina went straight at Backdoor to force an interference on Slater, or when Medina went left at Bells to do the same to Durbidge. However, this year the rulebook has had a COVID overhaul.

Unlike being injured, where a surfer receives no points or prizemoney, Steph will "receive minimum CT Ranking Points and minimum Prize Money for the CT Event". So $10,000 and 1,330 points.

Giving prizemoney and points to surfers caught in the COVID net may seem like a good compromise, and in any other year it would be. However, this year there are just five events before the new mid-year cut. Surfers get to drop one event, so their best four events count.

Obviously Steph will drop Pipe, but if she were to get caught up in COVID again..?

Championship Tour surfers can little afford to fail lest they face the mid-year chop, yet it's not just heats where they've gotta get the right results.

2022 isn't the year to hand a pen to a pro for an autograph.

Comments

lost's picture
lost's picture
lost Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 11:57am

That’s a bummer of a way to miss a event.

Any idea what happened to India Robertson ? She also seemed to just disappear with no explanation.

yahabo's picture
yahabo's picture
yahabo Saturday, 5 Feb 2022 at 6:47am

One report about India said concussion. The other said ankle.

iamlegend's picture
iamlegend's picture
iamlegend Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 12:21pm

Double fail from the Woz. Making the women surf in woeful conditions compared to the men and in doing so taking Steph out of the comp. She must be livid.

tyzee63's picture
tyzee63's picture
tyzee63 Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 12:40pm

equal pay, yet no equal play, why were they getting jet-ski assist at 4ft Pipe?

getbarrelled99's picture
getbarrelled99's picture
getbarrelled99 Saturday, 5 Feb 2022 at 4:39pm

irrelevant comment on this topic

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 12:44pm

Yeah, nah. This article is premised on the unreality that the Wozzle can’t, won’t or doesn’t throw their own rules, and thus their integrity, under a bus at the slightest hint of opportunism.

If the Wozzle is willing to air drop reality TV stars into the pointy end of the Challenger series, despite them never riding an oceanic swell in the process, then they’ll have zero qualms of shunting some rookie pleb into the long drop to accomodate their name surfers in the off chance their own bureaucracy puts them behind the eight ball.

channel-bottom's picture
channel-bottom's picture
channel-bottom Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 1:03pm

If it's a level playing field, ie other surfers could equally be caught in the protocols and miss events, maybe it isn't too big an issue for the mid-season cut.

From a footy perspective, the jaded observer in me wonders why the Roosters are the only team with every squad member having caught covid over summer thus won't have any player missing games because of it this year.

dinnerdish's picture
dinnerdish's picture
dinnerdish Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 1:28pm

I know its nowhere stated but I'm wondering if Gabs and Steph decided against the jab ...or maybe I'm just hopeful

geek's picture
geek's picture
geek Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 2:45pm

Don't think you can fly into the US without being fully vaccinated

northeasterly's picture
northeasterly's picture
northeasterly Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 1:31pm

I laughed out loud reading the paragraph about Medina.

goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 2:04pm

Haha me too, what a maniac

getbarrelled99's picture
getbarrelled99's picture
getbarrelled99 Saturday, 5 Feb 2022 at 4:40pm

yessssss same

JD Croobyard's picture
JD Croobyard's picture
JD Croobyard Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 1:43pm

I miss Medina already

Surfalot67's picture
Surfalot67's picture
Surfalot67 Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 4:24pm

If she has tested positive, and has served out her time off, she will not be tested again. Once you have had Covid and recovered you can still test positive for months although no longer symptomatic or contagious, so she cannot be caught in the Covid net a second time. If i was her I'd be royally pissed off with the Wozzle, especially after last year's debacle smuggling a Covid positive brazzo into Hawaii that went on to infect a bunch of crew including the SUP Lord.

flollo's picture
flollo's picture
flollo Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 4:33pm

Complicated situation but the best athletes overcome extreme challenges over time. She is one of the best and I think she can overcome it.

jetson.rover's picture
jetson.rover's picture
jetson.rover Thursday, 3 Feb 2022 at 6:36pm

I'm under the impression she was asymptomatic and felt normal but tested positive.
Did she do a 2nd back up test not too long after i wonder,as it's pretty common knowlegde those tests have a not insignificant rate of giving false positives.
Unless she has a cracker of a year,which she hasn't for a few now,then this will come back to bite her later on.
Throwaways are best used on an actual bad contest result,not in injury or disqualification circumstances,as it's now one less bad or ordinary result she can afford throughout the year.

greg-n.williams's picture
greg-n.williams's picture
greg-n.williams Friday, 4 Feb 2022 at 4:11am

It is what it is! Steph G is an elite surfer who I'm sure will rise to the top of her game to ensure a top 5 finish of the worlds best! GR8 contest & the ladies ripped in what they were sent out in. Even 4 to 5ft pipe looks pretty full on!

The beard's picture
The beard's picture
The beard Friday, 4 Feb 2022 at 6:40am

I bet the woz would have waited if it was slater in iso. Womens pipe masters without the femme goat is piss poor. Hopefully she has been slaying sunset every day

batfink's picture
batfink's picture
batfink Friday, 4 Feb 2022 at 8:19am

It does make the decision to continue into the elimination rounds on a very average Pipe day a bit more sinister. Or maybe we’re just thinking too much. If they didn’t someone would have said they didn’t run to accommodate Steph.

But the lack of transparency - that Steph was “caught up in the Covid protocols” - rather than just saying what actually happened, looks like a PR own goal from the woz. Strange days indeed, most peculiar mama.

mick-burnside's picture
mick-burnside's picture
mick-burnside Saturday, 5 Feb 2022 at 9:51am

Maybe if she doesnt make the halfway cut, the WSL could wild card her into into a number of events post cut off to ensure she has a reasonable chance to make to top 5 at seasons end.

AlgaeBanquet's picture
AlgaeBanquet's picture
AlgaeBanquet Sunday, 6 Feb 2022 at 1:00pm

It's extraordinary how either there's a mountain of tiptoeing going on around here or no-one can smell bullshit even when it's right under their collective noses. Meanwhile, that dangerous super spreader, the greatest sportsperson in world history and current world no. 1 isn't welcome in Australia. For what would he know about health? Best we listen to the likes of Kerry Chunt, he knows far more about health hey lol!

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Sunday, 6 Feb 2022 at 1:04pm

Eh?

Please don't attempt another half-ton.

AlgaeBanquet's picture
AlgaeBanquet's picture
AlgaeBanquet Sunday, 6 Feb 2022 at 1:22pm

Ahhaha!! Nah, I'm obviously way beyond caring what people think and definitely won't be bothering. I will restate my opinion imploring people to not get their kids jabbed though.

Anyway... Back to Bob Slater, whaddya reckon Ben, should we allow him to compete in Oz, or should we be segregating the dirty, ignorant purebloods? Genuinely, what's your opinion?

AlgaeBanquet's picture
AlgaeBanquet's picture
AlgaeBanquet Sunday, 6 Feb 2022 at 1:23pm

I'll crawl back into my box now lol.

truebluebasher's picture
truebluebasher's picture
truebluebasher Monday, 3 Apr 2023 at 5:20pm

World Women's Day ~ 2023 Steph Continues
The Line-Up with Dave Prodan (Great Job mate...excellent!)

Timestamp Menu
[0:00] Hawaii
[18:00] WSL Finals Day + Delays cheapen the Final
[22:10] Struggling to make the Cut > Final 5 + (Reigning Champ!)
[24:50] Make or Break blowin + Reef Breaks
[29:45] Bigger Presence > Free Surf Turning Point that stoked her 8th Title...(Pick this one!)
[36:30] Committed uninjured Tour Surfer (vs) Real Surfer injured chasing heavy swells
[38:40] World Champ Super League
[42:50] Surfer Girl Image
[51:20] Multi Sport Sponsors
[57:00] Winning but focusing on all the failings.
[1:07:10] Not fanatically Famous!
[1:09:50] Grand Finals Day...Sporting Elation (Epic)...Wanting more!
[1:12:10] Portugal
[1:14:15] DHD Tour Boards vs Hawaiian / Reef Boards
Q&A
[1:19:10] Best still ahead?
[1:20:50] Which "new" Woman Champ?
{1:22:10} Lightning Round...[10 x Q]