Lexus Pipe Pro 2025: Day One

A fun but understated opening day of the 2025 CT season at playful Backdoor after a build-up that wasn't just anti-climactic but borderline catastrophic. The current three-time men's champ walked away a week before the season opener, moreorless the same time as his only real rival had to kick out with a pectoral injury that almost certainly will rob him of the chance to compete for a fourth title. The mouth-watering prospect of a JJF/Medina showdown at pumping Cloudbreak is gone, probably for good.

A scrappy forecast after an Hawaiian season of plenty was the lemon next to the lemon. To be frank, it's hard to imagine a more underwhelming start to the season.

Seen through that prism, Day One was a pleasurable surprise. The sport seems in another of its weird phases. The desperate hype of the ELO years has gone, no Make or Break cameramen buzzing around the site like flies trying to glom onto any little dramas hoping to sell the sport to a mainstream audience. That dream, even allowing for the Olympic shine from the Medina crucifix kick-out, seems to have died down. The new CEO is running a restrained, subdued program and despite the World Champs' content to walk from the sport in their prime it can't be argued that the schedule is vastly improved this year. It could still be tweaked and they could still get skunked but it's the best it's been since 2006.

The opening ride of the 2025 season was a 1.00 from Yago Dora. It still felt good to see it live. He followed it up with some playful turns but still came up short to Seth Moniz and Edgard Groggia - the first rookie up for the day. There could not be a more playful and welcoming day for rookies at Pipe than what we saw today - and for two-time champ Filipe Toledo if we are being honest. The champs' last showing at Pipe was so disturbing to his equilibrium it precipitated a year off to restore his mental health. His last appearance in the jersey was at ten-foot Chopes in the Olympics where he spent the majority of the heat with priority hiding up the reef.

Edgard Groggia (WSL/Bielmann)

This is not to slag off Toledo, just a brief recount of the facts. His problems in heavy surf have compounded in recent years so to even make a showing at Pipe takes a certain courage. A blessed relief for Team Toledo to not have his preparation or mental state tested on day one. He cruised through at a canter with high performance surfing.

How did the rookies go? Is the GOAT still competitive at Pipe? Are the teenage women surfers, including the current World Champ still ascendant? Would John show up hungry or in cruise mode with his mind a million miles away from pro surfing? These felt like the main questions for day one.

The difference from edits and the attraction of watching surfing as live sport is we get to have our questions answered in real time. This will be the main feature I'll miss from JJF not being on tour this year. Yes, the edits will be incredible, but they will lack that magic of witnessing it live.

Each heat is a body of work, a chance to watch the artist create something in real time. We see the good and the not so good. Sometimes the sublime follows the ridiculous.The edit comes with those imperfections whittled away. We see what they want us to see. Our judgements are carefully curated by their editing decisions.

Back to the questions: For the rookies, a mixed bag. Groggia struck a blow straight away in Heat 1 by advancing over Dora. Jackson Bunch got sent straight to the Elimination Round after not finding a decent second ride. Al Cleland and Liam O'Brien fought a pitched battle for advancement behind a dominant Jack Robinson and it was Cleland who squeaked through in a decision that could have gone either way but felt right at the time. George Pittar advanced in an unspectacular but unfazed performance. He will not give away heats easily which should see him make the cut.

Al Cleland jr (WSL/Bielmann)

Alejo Muniz was his scrappy self but was just edged by current Pipe Pro champion Barron Mamiya.

Joel Vaughan had an absolute shocker that scarcely could have gone worse and will need a total reset.

French-Mexican-Canadian Marco Mignot surfed to the highest heat total of the round with pits and a lofted air reverse into the flats.

For mine though, the performance of the round for rookies (retread rookies included) was Ian Gouveia. He scrapped with John John Florence in the opening minutes which caused the champ to wave his arm in frustration, gesturing for a block call from the judges. The contrast between the two pro surfers could not be more stark. One riding a wave of success seemingly without end. World Title, Hawaiian real estate, bluewater boats, a flourishing business and a whole world eager to jump on board his next adventure. The other coming from obscurity and injury and long years of toil with little reward. After riding the winning wave Gouveia broke down on the glass. Suppressing sobs while detailing five months without surfing after qualification, on the couch with a back injury then overcoming a wound to the knee requiring 22 stitches and which put his appearance at Pipe in doubt.

We overplay the psychological element in pro surfing. It is the age we live in. Therapy speak rules: belief, mindset, and other intangibles assume primary importance. Reality dictates otherwise. Talent and skillset triumph over belief 99 times out of a 100. Despite these facts redolent of the brutal, uncaring universe we inhabit, Ian Gouveia's performance, his resilience and will in overcoming obstacles, gave me pause to reconsider.

After steeling himself he looked down the camera and simply stated: “No-one's gunna get my jersey."

Ian Gouveia (WSL/Heff)

How was John..? Moments of brilliance but everything about his mindset and preparation was said when he put the jersey on. He looked a little out of shape. It spoke to the decision to leave the tour having been made some time ago. Priorities have shifted for John. He's got a new kid, dad duties inevitably bite into water time without the utmost in discipline and focus. His eponymous business will need some attention. The wildcard came as a surprise - a favour to the WSL and a chance to mix it up at Pipe with no crowds. Maybe add another Pipe trophy to a surprisingly threadbare cabinet. A very strong impression was left though, that John will walk from this comp regardless of the result without a care in the world, or a backwards glance into whatever he has planned next.

John (WSL/Heff)

Kelly spiked a pair of clean Backdoor tubes to take a low-scoring heat win but the real highlights came in the presser. First heat win at Pipe since 2022, reminded Strider.

The GOAT was lightning quick on the counter: “I don't remember."

Kelly also confirmed his preparation had been sparse, after the end of the heat showed him puffing heavily on the sand.

“I need to get back in shape,” he said, “ I haven't surfed in five weeks."

That shows, not just where the GOAT is at, but where the WSL is at, with John and Gabe out.

Imagine putting a guy on the bench in AFL or NRL for First Grade who hasn't played a game of footy or even run around the oval for a kick and a pass in five weeks?

They obviously need him to show up but the feeling has changed. There was no sign of a Slater vibe in the crowd, or even in the booth. Time, and the sport have finally moved on from the Slater era, even if he is wheeled out for a few events this year.

Jack Robinson cemented World Title favouritism in a single Opening Round heat with perfect reads and execution. No-one on the roster today can decipher a reefbreak like the former teen prodigy. He's looked by turns impotent and over-aggressive in two starts at Trestles, failing to advance through a single Final 5 heat. It's impossible to see that happening at Cloudbreak, assuming he can make the day.

Jack (WSL/Heff)

The therapy speak continued as the women hit the water but it was current World Champ Caity Simmers who struck a more spiritual note familiar to all recreational surfers. Caity described a simple experience common to all surfers, as her heat hit the water. The sun came out, the waves glassed off and and in the recognition of this magical moment, she felt a feeling of desire and joy about the surf ahead. Caity obviously isn't a normie or a jock, there's a floaty, almost flakey, creativity about her that surrounds a steel core. She makes pro surfing fun to watch.

Caity (WSL/Bielmann)

The biggest surprise of the day came via the performance of Tyler Wright. With rivals Carissa and Steph gone, there's a palpable sense that Tyler has been relegated to irrelevance. As if her retirement is imminent and merely a formality. She obviously has other ideas. Intuitive tube-riding and vicious full-rotation hacks showed showed a simple formula for beating the teen wunderkids. Her advantage in power and athleticism can make the teens look like lightweights.

Tyler Wright (WSL/Bielmann)

On the glass in the evening sunshine, Tyler seemed more at ease than we've seen her in years. The normal angst was absent, in its place a desire to enjoy the job of pro surfing. Maybe good people have been in her ear over the off season. No doubt pro surfing has its challenges but given the choice, most people would opt for the pleasure of being paid to surf over the real world, anyday.

You could see that in the performance of Gouveia and the 'last chance' rookies.

Anything to avoid being sent back to the salt mines of the Challenger, or a real job.

//STEVE SHEARER