El Salvador Pro 2024: Finals Day
El Salvador Pro 2024: Finals Day
Six excellent waves ridden between men and women (six for men, zero for women) on a good enough Finals Day, at a good enough Punta Roca which, courtesy of the active New Zealand corridor, allowed the Woz to complete an event at the front half of the waiting period for the first time this year.
I don't want to say it but I will: John had an easy draw through Finals Day against rookie Crosby Colapinto, Matty McGillvray, and goofy Yago Dora, with clear points of performance advantage against all three opponents. Was never really headed, captured three of the day's six excellent rides, and now sits well ahead in very clear water, full sail trimmed tight on a broad reach, 30 knots of tradewind behind him with Brazil and a Pacific leg in front of him. Fair winds for Florence usually foretell a world title and John makes a beautiful front-runner. Every bit of diminished pressure, real or perceived, leads to increased performance. His only real opponent is his own body, and for now, that is looking good.
John (WSL/Hughes)
On the women's side, after the failure of Molly Picklum yesterday and Caity Simmers today – both of whom looked like they were ready to raise the bar, this time at a performance right - it was left to the Old New School of Caz Marks to take out Gabby Bryan in the Final with a pair of well-surfed but conservative 7-point rides. Despite the excitement Pickles, Caity, and BL have bought to the tour this year, sometimes 7's win comps. They win world titles. You fall going for an air and get a 4 when a safety-surfed wave would get a 7+ and you're gone.
Caz didn't go excellent all event, but she didn't need to. The same surfing won her a world title last year, so why would she change it up if she didn't need to? Backside surfing like that is incredibly high percentage surfing - you can adjust the tempo up or down slightly and feel in complete control. You would expect at some point, judges will get a little tired of repetitive backside safety surfing and demand more from Caz, as they have done over the years for male competitors. But that day is still in the future.
Caroline (WSL/Hughes)
Gabby Bryan was the form surfer of the event but came to Finals Day a little off. A few closeout hits were a fraction late; if she pulled them they would have been 8's. She was comboed in the final after a pair of Caz Marks' 7's and ended up a half-point short after responding with two semi-strong rides in the last ten minutes. All event, that Gabby Bryan power snap kept reminding me of someone and in the final it came to me. Matt Hoy. Minus the tatts and the beer drinking, of course. She looked better when she kept it short and punchy. The extended version of the turn tended to get a little sticky and boggy but judges didn't seem to care if she had to release pressure and recover the rail.
Overall, the women couldn't quite get hold of Punta Roca to deliver a statement about performance surfing in the way they did with barrels at Pipe and Tahiti, and big turns at Sunset.
Gabby (WSL/Hughes)
Objectivity requires I make the same statement about the men. They got the memo about airs and Finals Day was defined by them. None of them will stand the test of time. John's 10 in the semi against Matty McGillvray for a lofted alley-oop was generous, seeing as the air was not in the same league as the one he pulled over a decade ago (May 2013) in competition at Keramas.
It does beg a bigger question when it comes to the progression of aerial surfing in competition. To wit: what happened to the alley-oop? It regularly won heats, competitions (Slater beat Fanning in a final at Johanna in 2010 at 38 years of age with an alley-oop) and was awarded 10 point rides for a period roughly 2010-2016. Judges never fell out of love with it, it has a high make rate for proficient aerialists and yet it seemed to go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger. Occasional sightings but pretty much extinct. Something for the ten-percenters to consider I guess, as we head into Brazil.
John (WSL/Hughes)
John winning will be a massive boost for confidence considering a) his terrible record in finals, and b) he will likely have to 'defend' this massive lead by winning a final at Trestles. December 2020 was the last time John closed out a Final (against Gabe at Pipe), Margaret River 2019 before that. He's lost finals at Pipe, Teahupoo, and Margaret River this year, all in pumping surf at venues he would be expected to win at. That makes this final crucial for his confidence and he made that crystal clear by sitting all over Yago in the final five minutes.
It's between a long time between drinks for John at Trestles. No showings yet as a Final Fiver. Last competed there in 2017 as the reigning world champ, finalled with a third place finish after being well beaten by Filipe Toledo. Can form carry through seven years? There is one thing we can take from that result. He will not be beaten by Filipe Toledo at Trestles this year. Filipe will be watching on the big screen at his San Clemente compound, probably burning inside that he could not go back to back to back.
We'll see more aerial surfing in Brazil but it does seem in a weird, somewhat retrograde place. Backflips and corked out twists and flips have been absent – apart from Yago Dora's 9.33 effort against Medina in their Semi.
Yago (WSL/Hughes)
Otherwise, our prime data points are Toledo winning at head-high Trestles last two years running with barely an air required (two finishing airs in the. first Final heat with Ethan). Back to bog standard straight airs and air revs that were passe a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the first female to regularly bring airs into competition still remains absent, despite some noble attempts from Pickles and Simmers.
Brazil will be worth watching just to see if that signal from judges remains consistent or whether they pay power surfing again. With a new Brazilian head judge you would expect the former.
It's a funky race for the Final Five on the men's side. Jordy has crept inside after a Quarter-Final finish at La Libertad, but looks very vulnerable, as does Ethan Ewing sitting in fourth Three Brazilians: Medina, Italo, and Yago, who all looked in danger of getting cut at Margarets now hover in positions 6, 7, and 8. One of them, or even all three could get into the five. A Final Five with no Brazilian representation would be a massive humiliation yet that now seems improbable.
The women's five remains totally wide open from 1st to 10th. 10,000 points for a win, say, would rocket Tyler Wright into the five from her current slot at 9th.
By the numbers, the comp confirms my initial judgement - not bad - but with only occasional moments of brilliance. Most of them by John Florence and Yago Dora.
// STEVE SHEARER
Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona Women’s Final Results:
1 - Caroline Marks (USA) 14.80
2 - Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 14.46
Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona Women’s Final Results:
1 - John John Florence (HAW) 16.33
2 - Yago Dora (BRA) 14.44
Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona Women’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 13.50 DEF. Caitlin Simmers (USA) 13.10
HEAT 2: Caroline Marks (USA) 13.77 DEF. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 11.10
Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona Men’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Yago Dora (BRA) 17.66 DEF. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.23
HEAT 2: John John Florence (HAW) 17.50 DEF. Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 14.43
Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona Men’s Quarterfinal Results:
HEAT 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.27 DEF. Joao Chianca (BRA) 10.24
HEAT 2: Yago Dora (BRA) 14.54 DEF. Jack Robinson (AUS) 11.50
HEAT 3: John John Florence (HAW) 15.17 DEF. Crosby Colapinto (USA) 9.67
HEAT 4: Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 15.17 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 13.70
Comments
Interesting comment re: John's performance in finals. 9 wins and 10 losses across his career. For someone as well-rounded as him, I find it hard to believe that he's only managed 9 victories from his 103 WCT event starts (excluding wildcard entries). Strike rate of 8.74% seems so low for someone with that talent. Even Italo, Gabriel, Filipe, and Jack Robinson have better win %s.
To use Jack "rocks n' diamonds" Robbo as an example, he has 7 wins and 2 losses in finals from just 33 events. Much higher strike rate there. Fun fact for jack: He's finished 17th or worse 13 times. He's also finished 9th, 5th, 3rd, or 2nd, 13 times. Seems to be an all or nothing guy where 66% of his results are coming from either finals or first round exits.
Someone else can run the numbers on the Brazzos, I have other things to do.
"Someone else can run the numbers on the Brazzos, I have other things to do."
Yeah... same here. It would take quite a while...
Gabe also had a bad win-loss finals percentage. Merely at Chopes its 2-4.
It's such a pity Filipe wasnt surfing this event those waves were made for him and im not saying that in an insulting way, yesterdays finals waves while slow at times looked so fun.
For the pro-surfers in this forum, which air is harder to execute?
(a) the backside one from the 9.33 from Dora in the DoraXMedina semifinal, or;
(b) the alley-oop in the 10 from JJF in the other semifinal.
Thanks for any advice. Next time in the water I will try the easiest of the two to make sure I progress gradually.
Waiting for our resident pro surfer to reveal themselves here...
Fair enough. Pros probably stay away from forums. The forums sometimes reminds me of the title of a Pantera album from 1992 or a famous quote from Emperor Palpatine.
10 point ride was needed sometime through the event. What the hell were they going to do with the yeti esky otherwise?
Flip wouldn't have made this event, even if he was on tour this year. He would have retired hurt the day before the start in Tahiti.
Mother Natures different moods ,Tatihana was gifted a 10 point barrel at Chopes , and JJ was gifted a 10 minute lull at Punta Roca.
Punta is the laziest wave on tour. Thx Steve for keeping us uninspired updated.
The Rio pro will be a crucial event. Yago won with a 10 last season over Ethan (despite the death threats !! wtf, its surfing?)
Hopeful he can extinguish the storm reforming for the final five but it seems one of the most random events.
No, it’s just classic Aus bias for events in your time zone. Same reason you all slate Portugal.
Welcome to everyone else’s experience of trying to watch comps!
is a pretty biased comment. I would love to go full Kaz on Punta Roca and repetitiousy slap the double up, every bottom turn top turn combo adding to my own excitement but lazy waves suit my style. I wouldn't expect to score over 7 and if some maniacs want too go to the air this close to an Olympics, well good luck too them.
Anyway the Aussies have got their hands full keeping their spots and they're all going to have to surf their arses off in Rio.
I'll be catching up every day as usual
I'm not trying to disrespect Brazil but I'm cheering for Australia mate. Let's get it done, on the rail. Lol
Yeah I was meaning more in terms of the attitude to comps rather than surfers. It’s always noticeable how much value different folk place on different comps, dependent on whether they occur in a suitable time zone for viewing or not.
But really I’m just frustrated that almost none of the comps are convenient for me in terms of time!
And by all means cheer for your countrymen. That’s how it should be!
There's truth in that, in a water is wet way, for sure.
I dunno, after Chopes this just fell so flat for me- so many burgery, flat faced waves, long, long lulls and mediocre scores.
Very few waves were surfed well- a few diamonds in the end but paying one turn aerial waves on a point after all these years seems a retrograde judging move.
Them's just the facts.
On reflection, I think, there was a post-Slater hangover effect as well (for me). it just seemed more boring without him- all the pressers were completely anodyne and vanilla and bland. Zero personalities ready to step up in the post-Slater era. No offence to JJF but he really has nothing to say.
Cote and Salazar were annoying as hell in the booth.
I accept though, that other people found it entertaining.
I enjoyed it, yet I was away and had to watch YouTube replays on the TV for finals day.
Missed tuning in for the chat on swellnet...
Having the chat makes the contest for me.
Woz is doing something funky channeling all the views through the woz site rather than youtube...
It's true, we all have our biases. Mine is towards larger bodied goofs so I'm biased against any venue where you see the bigger units struggle to keep their speed up, extra stomping and pumping while the flyweights are skimming through sections.
I'm not saying El Sal sucks. Huntington does though haha.
Where are you CMM ?
That pic of Yago is cool
+1!
If Kelly gets post cut wildcards at Tahiti and Fiji why not Fil at El Slowadore and Brazil
I was wondering if we would see Felipe in Brazil. Maybe both him and joao?
Surely he be out at Chopes practicing for the Olympics ?
I guess Fil hasn’t applied for WCs. Joao is probably happy about it.
The unanimous 10 was definitely a surprise, but on reflection it was so much more than just an alley oop.
Max speed, max power, max variation, supermax flow.
JJF pays attention in class, just needed to pull an apple out of his pocket and hand it to the judges to top it off.
Love seeing airs like this included in a real flow like this. Still surfing the entire wave. If it’s one air on a wave missing countless sections it then needs to be spectacular or unique like yaho.
Caroline marks sucks. Backhand surfing sucks, it's so easy even I think it's easy!
I don’t like watching her surf but it’s not the backhand, it’s because it’s boring. There’s no edge, no surprise in her surfing. Just the same repetitive motion over and over.
That's a ridiculous statement. She absolutely shreds and has a better backside hack than any lady on tour...Now the judges need to force her to mix it up---def too repetitive. She needs to start going way out on the shoulder and doing a roundhouse cutty between hacks---if she can
Florence better win the final. Wasn’t the final 5 set up because the American owner was unhappy in 2016 when JJF clinched the World Championship in the second last event and while not surfing (when C. Coffin eliminated Jordy).
So, JJF, it’s all your fault and you had better win at Trestles.
4 finals out of 7 events, this is next level dominance from John. It would be a travesty if he didn’t win the title.
When you look at the rest of the crew, I don’t feel anyone else deserves it in 2024
Good stuff Steve, plenty of insightful observations there, as per usual. Regardless of less excellent range waves scored at Punta Roca, and that it doesn't provide a life or death thrill factor, it nonetheless offers plenty of scoring potential for all competitors to showcase their entire skill set. It is a world class cobble stone point break venue that also allows us fans to be well entertained. I mean, come on Steve, the WSL did try to find another such venue, the likes of Lennox Heads, but NIMBY protesters stopped that, ha! So, despite any real or perceived sports-washing from the El Salvador government, we should at least be grateful that this venue is on tour. As a fan of pro surfing, I hope it stays on tour. The pros seem to like it a lot too.
Those damn Lennox Head Nimbys :)
I thought it was great. Def better than Bells, on par with mag river which can really suck sometimes....better than RIO and usually better than supertoobs. Whats the prob?
Your insights Steve, give these surf games more interest and depth that the wsl waffle & syrup.
I loved these guys surfing Punta Roca. Most gave it a good go.
probably 45min heats would have given the surfers more chances for those bigger set waves, than having to go for scraps.
The water may have been too hot and slippery ... eg. look at the wax on Yagos board (above) &
Gabriela Bryan slid on /off her board twice and still won the heat.......
They need the king of waxes. Sticky bumps tropical.
*yawn*
man your agenda against Caroline Marks is gross, its not easy to do what she does, you might find it boring cos you want to see 4 repetitive air reverses on every wave but you need to stop with the hate on her and give a world champ some bloody credit. alley oops aren't used anymore cos Chris Cote said they are so easy to do and I'm sure he would know, as I am sure you know how easy it is to do what Caroline does.
I just reported the numbers, so evidently judges agreed with me that she was safety surfing.
Doing the same repetitive turn on your backhand is about as easy as elite surfing gets.
You've misread me if you see hate there- even the commentators were calling out her safety surfing on Finals Day.
Marks is a solid surfer but I’m not a fan of that backside repetitive attack. Not enough said about Medina and Yago’s deficiencies. Huge sections lost building speed for 1 single air. So ugly yet the judges keep paying it.
Easy is patently incorrect....if it was easy why aren't any of the other women able to pull it off like Marks? Boring?....probably She needs to learn how to go out into the shoulder to set up a roundhouse between hacks ---she should start working on that right now.
Looking at the results this season, would suggest other women can pull it off, or better.
But she has found a level of consistency which has eluded others. Watch Molly Picklums heat- if she had dialled it back a notch and not gone so big she would have won.
That (70% surfing) can win world titles.
Well right that's exactly what I am reffering to...the lack of consistency---especially backside. Don't see any of the other women dial up 8 backside wacks on a wave almost ever.....Picklum has a higher ceiling than Marks but she falls way more and goes missing in heats often.
We haven't seen what Molly or any other girl in the top 5 can do backside because there is not an equivalent left point on Tour.
Hence Caroline's repetitive backside surfing which nets consistent 7's is not really challenged.
Sawyer Lindblad probably has a higher ceiling of backhand performance but is still a rookie.
longer heats would have provided bigger waves and scores...
maybe abitof oil floating from the city river waters... maybe rub a bit of course sand in your wax and/or or hold onto the rail in the air?
Nias is nicer,.....if you dont have to live with malaria there.
Great write up as always Steve. Personally, been spending more time on the QS comps than the CT. Kerrzy at Nias was ripping!
Haven’t been following WSL for a while, just read up on the final 5 format , and lost interest in the rest of the tour. If JJ F is number 1 and already in the final 5 ,we won’t know who is world champion until the last day.Why watch until then
Because watching them surf Cloudbreak is a lot more exciting than Trestles
True Cloudbreak is more exciting than Trestles, but the results are less important there than they used to be.So it’s not so worth getting up in the dark to watch it.
Gabriel Medina, like all, has had bad heats & bad luck in his career or has not performed to his best; therefore, until today, I've never seen Gabe literally dominated in a heat. I thought Yago's air's were sick & a class above. I guess Gabe also saw that prior to & during the heat. Rattled, imo, for the first time.
both those airs were sick, one of them more so. i really love Yago's surfing, his style is near flawless, but don't particularly want to see him win in the way he did in this Gabe heat with one manoeuvre waves. Gabe chasing and trying to give the judges the exact same thing was a bummer.
This is correct.....Love yago man he was on a different level but 1 manuever waves should top out at like a 7 unless it's the best turn/air of the event/year
Absolutely agree with that. It better be pretty damn special if the rest of the wave is ignored. Especially if the wave is not a close out beach
Yago’s 9.77 in the final was insane, thought it was worth a mention.
If JJF finishes the season at number 1, then loses the title at 2ft Trestles the woz will never be forgiven.
That's what happened to Carissa last year... And the year before. That must hurt. Maybe unforgiven, but still doing it. Do you think that if it happens to JJ there will be more negative spotlight on the format?
That means that 2ft Trestles is a lot more important than Pipe , Chopes , Cloudbreak etc
In the current context it is, and that is why people despise it so much.
That’s why Griff is still smiling.
Yep, I think there would, at least from the supposed core audience. I dare say outside of Brazil, JJF is everyone’s favourite surfer of this current crop and to see him miss out on a 3rd world title, especially after injury robbed him in 2019, would be even more of a tragedy than Carissa.
On an unrelated note, Felipe’s decision to take a break this season is looking very poorly thought through, with the likelihood that this will be the last year at Trestles and Fiji on the cards for next years finals.
But you don’t know his mental state when he pulled out. Pressure can cause depression/ anxiety, so maybe it was a good decision?
Let’s hope it goes down. Or even better John gets out surfed in combo in the final and the judges have to way over score him to prevent him loosing. That would be peak wsl
Once Erin Brooks is on tour next year, Caroline’s 7’s will be more like 5’s and safety surfing in the women’s will no longer cut it thankfully…
But will she just learn to safety surf?
Why does El Salvador look like the funnest wave ever to surf yet it’s as boring as batshit to watch in a comp
I don’t understand
Maybe if it had clearer water and a little barrel section would be more interesting
Because what the average punter (and us below average) likes to surf and what we love to see the world’s best surd are very different waves.
Yeah was thinking the same it sort of promises to barrel off its nut but ends up sort of being a half bowl. Not nearly the wave Cloudbreak is which is frightening up close when it is on. This is not frightening maybe that is the difference: mortals can surf Roca and have fun; somewhere like Cloudbreak is not fun when it is pumping.
Freeride (or anyone)
who is the absent female surfer who regulalry made aerials in competitve surfing?
not dissing the girls or being a smart arse - just curious
I remember Carissa doing one in Newcastle and Sally could pop the fins out and complete what could at least technically be called an air - I remember one at cabarita during covid I think
scratching my head here...
Sorry, I was not being literal- I just meant that we haven't seen a female surfer regularly do them in comps- yet.
Hey Steve, Have you been watching the Nias Pro? 6-8 foot perfection with Josh Kerr competing on twin fins.
I've been catching bits of it- just saw Willow Hardy get a 10 point ride.
Pretty sick.
I know it happened on Day Two but I've been reading a few things about the Griffin/Joao interference and I reckon the authors have got the wrong end of the stick. Stab has a clip of the interference that misses the sharp change of direction Griff took underneath Joao - which is important as Joao wasn't looking, he was facing the wave - so if that's all you saw of the moment then perhaps you think Griff was wronged.
Also, said commenters are seemingly taking Joao's quote "don't hate the player..." as admission of guilt. I may be wrong, but I perceived it as Joao acknowledging Griff did a dog act on him - paddling hard inside of him - and not the other way around.
You need to see the full lead up to see who paddled where. It's at the three min mark here: https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/531176/surf-city-el-salvador-pro-p...
The simplest interpretation is that Joao was furthest out and also the only one who could realistically catch that wave - Griff was too far in. Yet Griff unnecessarily paddled right across the front of him. Joao didn't know Griff had darted inside as he was facing the other way, so there's no way his was a deliberate movement - he spun around to see Griff suddenly underneath him.
All very easy to see when viewed in full.
I can't see what the controversy is. Griffin was out of view of Joao and paddled straight under Joao. Griffin must have been drinking beers with Medina (who had wobbly legs in the next heat for the first few waves) or otherwise eating magic mushroom pancakes. Griffin's actions are like those you see in those Snapper videos with everyone snaking each other.
It was a stone cold snake from Griffin, but I have no idea what the rules are when there's no priority
Yep, crystal clear via the webcast. Interference call was spot on.
They actually have a section of the rules called "Snaking", which is pretty funny
A little comment on the commentary:
I have a lot of respect for Felicity Palmateers skill in the booth but, I mean, how many times hearing "I mean" is too many?..... I mean, it would be great if she could temper that persistent repetition. I mean, it does start to get on ones nerves. I mean, does anyone else have issue with that?
Not really, hadn't even clocked she was saying it till someone else brought it up. I think Flick's getting better and better in the booth, though if there was to be any criticism it was that one time she said "wowsers".
Must've been watching reruns of Happy Days.
I'm partial to a little wowser from time to time, so Flick has my forgiveness.
Getting a little bored with the use of "100%" to start sentences though.. plenty of offenders in this camp.
100% agree on the 100% thing starting sentences. Flicks frequent care free giggling is a bonus though, I think she really enjoys herself :))
Richie Lovetts constant use of “lean in” and “leaning into” things 100% drives me as mental Laura “ya know” Enever.
I just miss Pottsy
Ony Anwar for WSL couch lol
“None of them will stand the test of time”?
I can only assume you skipped a beat or two here, Stevo!
Highly engaging competition, electric surfing from Yago and John.
Maybe let your sheet out a bit on that broad reach!
you lost mate?
Was in the area. Thought I’d get a couple.
So is ‘performance surfing’ old now? Have we been saturated with it so much on the inter web that nothing registers?
I’m looking at a pretty lovely 4-5 foot clean right in Punta Roca, I’d be immediately out there if I came across it like that; yet the sights and sounds of the world’s best surfers tearing it apart barely raise my heartbeat let alone a skerrick of interest.
Maybe it has to be something like 8 foot Haleiwa or Margies to get me excited about ‘performance’ now.
One thing I am exited about is John clicking into gear.
Caroline can only beat who she’s up against right? I just can’t believe of the talent in lady’s draw, none were better than what was dished out by Marks for another W.
One last point. How good was it to see the pros sitting on their arses watching the comp in the makeshift timber structure rather than the usual monolithic waste of time, resources and money usually reserved for them? The fanciest thing in that ‘athlete’s zone’ looked like a Swiss ball. More of it I say.
See yas in Cloudy.
Tasty looking food that Nias Goreng.
.
Yep
Watching nias with the punters having a kelapa and a beng beng after a heat.
Classic.
Wonder how the CT pros feel, while they were slogging it out in medium waves in El Salvador, the Nias Pro is underway in 6 - 8 perfect barrels for an Asian/Australian qualifying event. For the Dream Tour to be without an Indo event really questions it's status as the pinnacle of pro surfing
To be fair, while it was pretty cool seeing them getting good waves at Nias, the points of difference on each wave were pretty minor. It's like a three second barrel and then kick out. I'm not sure that it could sustain a CT competition.
The only short barrel waves on the CT are Pipe and Teahupoo, which are obviously way more sketchy than Nias.
Didn't mind the El Salvador comp, although agree that surely there is an indo wave that could be on the tour. Even G-Land at its worst was fun to watch last year.