Colapinto and Weston-Webb Claim Victories at MEO Pro Portugal
PRAIA DE SUPERTUBOS, Peniche / Portugal (Monday, March 7, 2022) - Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) and Griffin Colapinto (USA) have won the MEO Pro Portugal presented by Rip Curl, the third stop of the World Surf League (WSL) 2022 Championship Tour (CT), claiming victory in the Finals against Lakey Peterson (USA) and Filipe Toledo (BRA) respectively, held in three-to-four foot surf at Supertubos.
A full five consecutive days of surfing have taken competitors through all the different moods of Supertubos, from windy heavy surf to the perfection of yesterday’s barrels, to culminate with today’s glassy and rippable peaks for the Finals.
Tatiana Weston-Webb Claims Third CT Career Win, Makes Into WSL Top 5
Claiming a career-third win on the Championship Tour, the Brazilian bounces back in a big way after a deceiving start to her season where she was eliminated twice in equal 9th place at Pipeline and Sunset. Weston-Webb has moved up to 4th place on the season rankings heading into the last couple of events before the inaugural mid-season cut narrows the field down after Australia.
“I’m just so grateful. God always has a plan and I just trusted in Him,” Weston-Webb said. “Honestly, I just had so much fun out there! Lakey and I had such a great battle back and forth, I was really stoked just to be out there. I think I can do anything I put my mind to. That’s the beauty of surfing and the beauty of just trusting and believing in yourself, if you have that mental ability to just overcome those obstacles that put you down."
“For me, the beginning of the year was such a bad start and it was at two venues I thought I would do really well at,” she continued. “So for me, I know God has a plan and I will just trust in it and keep surfing and trying my best and believing in myself. That’s the nature of every competition, you just need to continue believing in yourself no matter what.”
In the Final, Weston-Webb got busy early and found a good set wave to lay down two big turns for a 7.33 (out of a possible 10) and the lead. Peterson replied with a 7.10 of her own and continued to push, finding another good score on backhand snaps to turn the heat midway through. Both surfers kept multiplying their chances, paddling for every wave coming through the lineup and giving the judging panel a lot to think about, with forehand and backhand combinations of turns on the clean little peaks of Supertubos.
The Brazilian eventually found another gem to perform on her forehand to post an excellent 8 point ride and take the win in Portugal.
Peterson placed runner-up at Supertubos for the second consecutive time after a final lost to Caroline Marks (USA) in 2019. The Californian had an opportunity to grab the yellow jersey with a win in Portugal but will instead head to Australia ranked 3rd in the world. Coming back from an injury that sidelined her for most of the 2021 season, Peterson proved if anybody doubted that she’s back where she belongs among the very best surfers in the world.
“It’s almost harder when you get so close, you’re right there and miss out on the win,” Peterson admitted. “It was a great heat with Tati, I’m stoked to be at the top of the overall rankings especially heading into Australia, Bells is like my second home now. It’s a great start, bummed I didn’t get the win, but congrats to Tati, she’s a really deserving champion and it was great to have a heat with her. I’m happy with my performance, but definitely hungry for more.”
Peterson had previously eliminated seven-time WSL Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) in their Semifinal bout. The Australian built a healthy lead at the beginning of the heat but was eventually overtaken and had to settle for equal third in Peniche.
In a rematch of last year’s Rip Curl WSL Finals, Weston-Webb came up against five-time WSL Carissa Moore (HAW) in the Semis, but this time the Hawaiian couldn’t find the right waves to lay down her big turns and was forced out of competition in equal third place.
Griffin Colapinto Claims First Championship Tour Win in High-Octane Final
A quiet start to the men’s Final was quickly forgotten when Filipe Toledo (BRA) posted the first good score for a combination of backhand quick snaps to build an early lead. Griffin Colapinto (USA) stayed patient and waited for the bigger set waves to push his backside turns and stayed in the heat with a big score of his own.
Both surfers went back-and-forth and grabbed the lead off each other multiple times but eventually the Californian found the edge with his vertical attack of the lefts for the win.
“It’s so weird you just get in this mode where you’re not even thinking about it,” Colapinto said. ”Even winning doesn’t feel like I thought it would, I’m still in this calm state where it hasn’t even set in. It’s so cool, I’m just trying to take in seeing Kolohe (Andino) and all my friends come up to me after the final.”
Colapinto earned his very first CT win in fantastic fashion, scoring deep barrels earlier this week, nailing the first perfect 10 point ride of the season last night on a massive air, and sealing the deal with brilliant rail work today. After a slow start in Hawaii, the Californian jumped 20 spots up to 7th on the WSL rankings after the completion of event No.3.
“The beachbreaks of California paid off,” Colapinto added. “I was training in these exact conditions so it’s funny that we ended up doing the Final in this. I just can’t believe the people I had to go through to get to this win, it’s as good as it gets. Everything I’ve been doing has paid off. It’s crazy after the first two events, I didn’t make it past round three and it was really hard with that mid-year cut coming up, so it was a hard one mentally, but I believe in the process and trust the unknown. No matter what, you’re always going to be learning and that’s my favorite part of the sport that it grows you as a person. Win or lose, you’re growing.”
The runner-up in the world last season, Toledo continued to impress and collected another major result in Portugal. Winner in 2015 in Peniche, today’s runner-up finish will vault him up into the Top 5 conversation in fourth position early in the season.
“I’m really happy to be back here in Peniche, Portugal,” Toledo said. “It’s a place where I feel very comfortable and the people are so welcoming. I just love it here, I guess that’s why I always get good results. The entire week just surfing and having fun with the boys and the waves were firing. Congrats to Griff, Tati, Lakey and everyone who have put on amazing performances, it’s been inspiring to watch.”
In a high-flying, all-Brazilian first Semifinal, Toledo and WSL Champion Italo Ferreira (BRA) pushed each other to bring out their best and eventually Toledo got the nod, sending Ferreira home with the equal third place result.
Two-time WSL Champion John John Florence (HAW) looked uncharacteristically affected by the pressure in the Semis against Colapinto. The Californian had a solid two scores and Florence kept falling as he tried to find the winning score, eventually bowing out in equal third.
As the MEO Pro Portugal presented by Rip Curl wraps in Peniche, Brisa Hennessy (CRI) and Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) sit atop the 2022 CT rankings and will be wearing the yellow jerseys at the upcoming Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, coming up from April 10-20, 2022 in Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia.
MEO Pro Portugal Presented by Rip Curl Men’s Semifinals Results:
SF 1: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.67 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 12.66
SF 2: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 12.40 def. John John Florence (HAW) 10.50
MEO Pro Portugal Presented by Rip Curl Women’s Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) 12.34 def. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.00
SF 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 10.76 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 10.17
MEO Pro Portugal Presented by Rip Curl Men’s Final Results:
1 - Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14.34
2 - Filipe Toledo (BRA) 14.20
MEO Pro Portugal Presented by Rip Curl Women’s Final Results:
1 - Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 15.33
2 - Lakey Peterson (USA) 14.27
Comments
How was the commentary this event?
I thought Hawaii was actually pretty good, I thought getting Makua Rothman in was a real breath of fresh air and he wasn’t just following the sickeningly positive narrative the other regulars seem to stick too.
Kills me to say that too as he often comes across as such a tool on his social media haha, but yeah he was great.
Agree, loved Makua in Hawaii. Turpel is sounding so stale, and Kaipo is the worst I've ever heard.
Barton Lynch is such a great commentator. His work during the Olympics was all-time. Fresh, funny and heaps of knowledge.
Yeah Barton is excellent, always has a unique perspective and interesting questions / insights.
I think with all sports, previous / current wizards of the game are generally the best to listen too.
I think of the great late Warnie, Joey Johns, etc. They have been (or are) there and that alone gives them the respect and credibility.
However as we've found out all too often the WSL's values seldom align with core surfers. I'm not sure what they're looking for in a commentator but surfing credibility doesn't appear to be high on the list.
That Shannon is fucking unlistenable! Bring back Laura Enever
At one point during final (or semi) she screamed:
‘Lakey with a MASSIVE CARVE’
……..Lakey was on 1 foot section and totally bogged rail and fell half way through.
Had to mute it after that
Ha ha far out
Hahaha! I remember that Solitude and yelling obscenities at the TV. Was reminiscent of Pottz goofing his pants every time Medina paddled for a wave - "Oh. My. God. Here goes Gabriel Medina!!" as he sniffs at a wave and paddles away.
Yes, Laura for the Aus leg (and beyond) is a must and hopefully they bring back Dimity Stoyle on the roaming beach mic too. I thought she was awesome for COVID lockdown events
Is she the one with that bad barbie voice, if so I vote Rosie.
I hope not! Can’t go wrong with Rosie, true. Dimity was the opposite of boring, straight laced yanks I thought. Plus she rips
I hope not! Can’t go wrong with Rosie, true. Dimity was the opposite of boring, straight laced yanks I thought. Plus she rips
Griff sounds like he's got his head screwed on pretty well hey?
Heavy mid season cut. The girls go down to only 10! Tough to make it in Women's surfing if the elite level only cater for 10.
Lots of Aussie blokes on the chopping board too. Gee I hope Jackson Baker can get up there, he's really performed well.
Some great surfing on the womens side however I don’t think the depth is there. If they had 36 on tour like the men, the difference in surfing level would be noticeable.
Lots of fuss about equal pay but the real disparity to me is the number of slots available on the womens side vs the mens. Decrease the mens to say 26 and increase the Womens to 26 then kill the mid season cut. Want to be able to run the event in less days ? Well that’s easy by killing the nothing round or if their must be a second chance round have heats of 3 with only 1 going through ( a real repacharge). Interesting you never hear current female tour surfers complain about the small numbers - I guess they figure once you are on your it makes it easier maybe to get results.
Womens surfing fucking sucks to watch if you want the high level performance.
I watched the semis (womens & mens) and they were hard to watch.
Equal pay, sure, but they should have their own events. Would love to see the viewer stats but i'm sure that will never be released.
What has happened to Morgan Cibilic? Last years wonder boy didnt catch a wave at pipe, and has not shown up to the last 2 events.
I like the mid year cut, gets rid of the dead weight. Only problem is we might have no Australians.
Our best bet is Ethan Ewing and Callum Robson at bells.
Re: Morgan.........that's surfing as a 'sport' isn't it? To me there is a group of blokes who are of a similar very good standard. What seems to separate at times is nothing more than luck: a wave here, a flat spell there, momentum with the judges.........if you don't have that absolute weapon in your armory such as elite backhand barrel riding or a highly developed air game, three reo's to the beach will only get you so far.
I kinda agree, however Morgan last year was epic. His turns were sharper (especially on his backhand) but i always felt like it was pure adrenaline and even he was a little surprised.
A bit like Wilko when he won the first couple of events a few years ago.
Different waves and schedule last year.
I am glad I'm not a judge. I had Steph G winning that semi.
just re-watched their waves. Glad I'm not a judge too. I don't how you really split that. Could've gone either way. Steph kind of fell into the white water at the end of highest scoring wave, maybe that cost her? Definitely surfed lefts as well as i've seen for a while.
'God' had a plan apparently.
FMDead..........
Oh thee Ring, I proclaimth from thee holiest of scriptures, Romans 2:11 (new international readers version), so oneth does not comprehendth how oneth can winth and the other cannothh
Thorry.
I don't underthand you Nickolai?
Simply put Romans 2:11 (NIV) - “God does not show favouritism.”
With Tatiana’s logic or faith, there shouldn’t be a winner.
I know we're being tongue in cheek here, but scripture, like most writing, really should be read in context.
Rom 2 is talking about something entirely different.
But I agree Tati's comments were pretty cringey.
Curse you padua, did i learn nothing!!!
Maybe Tatty has to mention god four times in each post-heat interview to remind us (and herself) she really is Brazilian?
Yes doesn't sit well with our culture too many bad memories of dodgy priests and brothers who were doing the Lords work....you listening Big George? I don't get it and makes my skin crawl (went to said dodgy catholic schools).
Anybody think the Brazilias falling off their boards every wave was a good look? That was the ugliest semi I can remember, trying way too hard and falling off at the end.
Worst heat ever. What a fuckin joke.
I had to delay my viewing of the finals to heat replays the next day. That first semi heat is as far as my anticipation took me.
Picked up Barbarian for the re-read and may have been more positively satisfied emotionally.
Slippery wax appeared to be the culprit Mem, twas even mentioned by the commentary team at one point. Expect the brazzo wax makers will be in for a spray.
Maybe someone did the old switch and put soap on?
What happened to Potts and Blakey? Turpel with Kaipo is nauseating , WSL machines on repeat,
The squeaky american chick makes my ears hurt and my bowels rumble. Turpels use of the words incredible and incredibly is incredible . Barton is a good option, pretty unscripted, until he too gets the WSL implant. Rosy is good , luvs everything. Apart from all this it was a mildly entertaining contest.
I don't think it is too late for Joey to reprogram.
Never mind the usual suspects, me got the hots for the newbie Luisa!
Yes, what did happen to Ronnie? He and Rosie together with Barton was a pretty epic team.
Barton for Bells & Marg River.... & cheaper for WSL too!