El Salvador Pro 2023: Day 2

Current tour front-runner Griffin Colapinto backed up my call yesterday, admitting Punta Roca was close to a perfect match for Lower Trestles. As such, his preparation for El Salvador surfing Trestles was close to ideal. Given Punta Roca is a slightly smudged facsimile of Trestles we'd expect Trestles specialists to dominate, which is exactly what happened. The aforementioned Griff, fresh from his controversial Surf Ranch win easily accounted for Seth Moniz in a slow heat before getting over Connor O'Leary in their QF in a tighter affair that Griff still had end to end control of.

Steph Gilmore smashed Pickles with an outstanding display with the scoreline flattering Pickles. The sharpness of the edge control from Steph in head-high rights is a clear advantage for her. She's so in her comfort zone in these conditions - it's crazy how the new tour schedule is set up for her. She can afford to coast in Tahiti, there's no real pressure to work on the weaknesses when her strengths are so accomodated. Make the five and start slicing and dicing at head high Trestles, where it looks almost certain we will see a re-run of a dominant Carissa Moore coming in cold as number one seed. Carissa has a progressive element to her surfing which could unseat Gilmore but the problem is, under pressure she quickly retreats back to her safety style which is grist for Gilmore's mill.

Carissa (WSL/Ryder)

What applies for Steph is just as relevant for Toledo. Sizzling edge control and a clear advantage at joining the dots, even moreso at Punta Roca because it's such a weird, sectiony wave. Toledo as World Champion surfs heats very differently now, dare I say in a most un-Brazilian manner. The wave count is low, he's happy to sit patiently, too patiently sometimes, and wait for the sets. That was enough to easily account for Rio Waida and then edge out Kanoa Igarashi in their QF. In this case the scoreline flattered Toledo. He gave a small wave away with priority in the closing stages and Kanoa laid down a lofted Kerrupt flip into a seamless tail high blowtail amongst other turns.

That, to my eye, looked to be the 7.67 required. It was excellent surfing. Apparently though, wave size has re-entered the criteria and it wasn't even considered in the ballpark by the panel. Check it out for yourself and leave your opinion below.

Fil (WSL/Ryder)

Inconsistency of scoring waves and falling off were the two biggest factors influencing wins today. Flow, not so much. I love Ian Gentil's big turns, but at times the nose of his board was bumping and hopping like a tweaked flea. There was brutal, unintended irony during Gentil's close win against Ferreira with Leo Fioravanti spruiking his crypto sponsor while Gentil's pure white board, unadorned by any sponsor's sticker, shredded the Roca walls. The spoils of pro surfing in this post-surf star age are not evenly distributed.

Ian (WSL/Ryder)

Italo, to be fair, fell victim to falling off. Those mossy green rocks are slippery AF; the creek which flows from behind the point is brown and polluted and will impart a slick to wax jobs and grips. The number of rides that were concluded with feet slipping off on the final turns, and thus decided heats was substantial. Barron Mamiya, Italo, Medina, Ethan Ewing all fell at crucial moments from foot slips.

Likewise with inconsistency. Heats ran out without enough waves to decide the winner on surfing. Connor O'Leary needed a decent score to beat Griffin but sat there forlorn for close to five minutes in the horse latitudes - becalmed.

Some of the judging still seems hungover after the over-indulgence of man-made waves at the Surf Ranch. Liam O'Brien squeaked past Ethan Ewing on a last wave that seemed fairly judged, yet against Barron Maniya his last wave required a mid-(4.67) which he shredded and merely got a 4.87. Incomprehensible scores like that wreak havoc on the sports' ability to progress. The LOB/Ewing heat was definitely the highlight of the day if you want a single heat to watch. EE was surfing better but fell at crucial moments, as mentioned.

LOB (WSL/Hughes)

It sounds counter-intuitive when you have a comp held in bright tropical sunshine with head-high point surf, but Strider Wasilewski nailed it when he identified the day as being “in a grind.”

“There's beauty in the grind,” he proclaimed in the midst of the Mamiya/Medina QF. Weird waves and Medina falls dominated. This is not the same Medina who won the 2021 World Title. He has not been the same since his mental health break last year. Moments of brilliance now alternate with inexplicable falls and a general feeling of lassitude. The insane strike rate for airs is much reduced, the sense of impending victory no matter the scoreboard is largely dissipated. So we had Medina on the grind, hopping and pumping his way along sectiony waves, caught behind, and falling, falling, falling. With less than 30 seconds a set stood up and Medina rattled off two half-flubbed top turns before a floater which left him caught behind. He needed a 6-something. He was nowhere near it.

The Women's Quarters made it look better. There was less falling and a more co-operative ocean. Tyler Wright's opening wave wasn't pretty but judges had to pay the power turns. A vertical spike on the outside section before a 90's-style tail slide and thunderous claim was even better. It would have been a heat-winning wave in any heat - man or woman - through the day.

Tyler (WSL/Hughes)

Carissa stomped her sometime rival Bettylou SJ who just seemed to give up and sit quietly while Moore racked up score after score.

A sectiony, weird, running right in slippery water is the last thing the tour needs at this stage of the year. That is a truth widely acknowledged. A rippable left would be the thing. I flipped over to the Krui Pro after the close of play and even that burgery left would do the job. Nonetheless here we are again, with the final day already having a Groundhog Day feel about it with a very good chance we will see repeat winners, or at least Finalists.

// STEVE SHEARER