Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach 2025: Day 4
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach 2025: Day 4
The Woz finally jagged it: consecutive days of good surf; in this instance pumping waves on the Bells Bowl for Anzac Day.
It wasn't perfect all day, niggly little winds would blow up the bay for periods of time making for a cross-wired bump and an uneven lip-line which challenged the best. There's been a growing sense all week though that the Bowl has some kind of numinous, cosmic force attached to it which sits outside the realm of rational materialism. It will choose you when it's ready etc etc. My instinct is to call BS on this type of woo woo but when the wind dropped and the Bowl showed glittering green waves against grey skies for Ethan Ewing's heat it did force an appreciation of the day, of the Bowl, and all the interdependent forces bringing a day like this into existence that was outside of the rational.
Ethan was supernatural. It was a performance that had been a long time coming. If you recall after multiple days of pumping Bells Bowl in 2022 Ethan paddled out first thing in the morning for his Quarter-Final with Filipe and the Bowl went flat. Dead, stone, motherless flat and he sat there marooned with quiet dignity while Toledo paddled into the shorebreak and rode waves. In 2023 he won Bells zipping and zapping all over onshore 2-3 foot Winkipop.
Ethan (WSL/Sloane)
This statement showing has been brewing for a long time. You'd never get an admission of that out of Ewing. He refuses to allow even the tiniest bit of cockiness or arrogance to show in a presser. His third wave said it all though: three huge turns, each one varied, yet all performed at full tilt and flawlessly executed, then instead of the standard issue hop through the dead water to the shorey, Ewing just kicked out, said “yeah, nah, I'm done here boys - jam that one up your arse sideways”. Or words to that effect.
Those three turns earned a contest-high 9.43. It could have been a 10. If you just watch one thing from today, catch yourself up on Ewing's three rides. Best surfing at the Bowl ever? I don't think so. Occy still takes that cake for me at the '97 Skins event. Definitely in the top five though. Vaughan Blakey called it a “performance that will echo through eternity”.
That wasn't a competitive heat. Ewing blew Connor O'Leary out of the water, even with Connor scoring a mid-8 for three vertical blasts.
The preceding heat very much was, despite the final scoreline. The rookie template to spring an upset on more fancied opposition had been perfectly established in the morning by Xavier Huxtable when he mowed through Italo Ferriera. Win the opening exchange and stay mistake free through the back-up rides. It looked like Jackson Bunch had done just that after he traded rides with Jack Robinson in the opening minutes. Big vert blasts on the opening hit, seamless back into the next turn and a big vertical hit on the end section. Jack, by contrast, was so much busier and noisier between turns. His opening wave only featured one big carve but judges gave him the nod. With the spread cooked it made it hard for the rookie to come back.
Jack (WSL/Miers)
Look, best two rides Jack probably wins, despite bobbles and flubbed turns, which only delighted the judging panel. Bunch ended up with the ride of the heat and for a rookie showing it was damn impressive.
Expectations for the day were red-lining from the start as Xavier Huxtable took on current world No. 1 Italo Ferreira. The only thing that requires explanation in retrospect is why Italo was so passive for the inside take-off to start. He paddled Xavier off one of the waves of the heat in Round 1 but for the opening of this heat he sat wide of Xavier, meekly surrendering the inside position. That gave Xavier first choice of set waves. He pulled the trigger on the second wave of the set, blitzed a layback snap in the bowl, sprayed Italo in the face as the Brazilian paddled back out after a failed opening ride, and then nailed the end section. After that perfect opening it was only a matter of nailing a back-up and keeping Italo off the best waves. A perfect start to the day for a big local crowd.
Xavier (WSL/Sloane)
Scarcity = value, and with set waves often arriving after long waits there was no room for error in converting a set wave into a score. Griffin Colapinto converted all three rides in his Round of 32 heat with Matty McGillvray into 7's. A single air to start then two well-surfed waves in the Bowl. Griff didn't quite hit the high notes of Ewing or the other stand-out surfer Jake Marshall. Nothing he did will echo through eternity. It was probably the ultimate sneaky good performance to set him up for Finals day though. Even moreso as he sent Xavier packing in the last heat of the day. Nothing incredible but in total control of the tone of the performance. Griff is my pick for Bells champ.
Bells lineup (WSL/Sloane)
Winds swung a little devilish for the clash between George Pittar and Toledo. Toledo went straight to the air on the opening ride for a 5.33. Pittar's opener seemed very cooly received for a 5.83 despite multiple risky attacks on the lip. It didn't matter. Toledo opened up on the next set and blitzed it for an 8.50. Riding a swallowtail quad he seemed to have an extra gear of speed through the turns. Toledo wins in wavepools and collects world titles on swallowtail quads yet not one other surfer on tour has followed him down this design pathway - roundtail thrusters all the way down. I have no hypothesis other than groupthink. Pittar could not hang with the upgraded quad-anchored attack from Toledo and down he went.
Despite the wind switches and soft patches, power surfing generally went through. Jordy Smith prevailed despite a sudden air wind which favoured Joel Vaughan, whom Smith dismissed as “helicopter boy”. Jordy attributed his late career form to being an “all-frother” with a Dad Bod. “I try hard,” he said, “I'm in love with surfing bru.” No doubt that is perfectly true. Jordy has also expressed enthusiasm close to love for getting paid in US Dollars and exchanging into South African Rands. Why not get paid to do what you love? And love getting paid.
Jordy (WSL/Sloane)
All day sets had come in pairs or threes. Opulent lines marching in from Bass Strait which generated almost unbearable tension in viewers. It appeared to be the case when Morgan Ciblic took on the Italian Leo Fioravanti. Contra Ferreira's passive start to his heat, Leo had paddled Ciblic mercilessly deep. “I feel like we have a rivalry,” said Morgs. “He probably has rivalries with lots of people,” says everything you need to know about the Italian's method of competition. Somehow, and it cant be explained via scientific materialism, a prime set wave approached the line-up and Leo with priority allowed Morgs to catch it thinking there was another, better wave behind. There was not. The Bells Bowl had chosen Morgs as a recipient of this largesse, and it was the heat-winning wave.
Morgs (WSL/Sloane)
In 2022, rookie Joao Chianca surfed the heat of the event with John John Florence and ended up booted despite a 17.73 heat total. Today he surfed a similarly brilliant heat and got booted by a career best performance by Jake Marshall. Chianca was knocked in the Round of 32 and subsequently fell off tour . He then came back on tour next year and made the Final Five and competed for a world title. Hot on the heels of that he was ejected from a Backdoor bone crusher and suffered a brain injury which caused him to miss several events. Jake Marshall came on Tour as an unheralded rookie, was ridiculed online despite a winning record against John Florence at Sunset and has studiously avoided raising his profile in any meaningful fashion. I mention all these facts to demonstrate the essential unknowability of this pro surfing caper. It operates according to the dynamic outlined by Karl Popper. We can never be sure of anything - we can only eliminate propositions after the fact, based on largely made up reasons.
No-one knew or predicted, for example, that Jake Marshall would lay down the heaviest heat of the day against Joao. No-one knew that he had that level of surfing in him. What empirical evidence could we have mustered? What data points aggregated? And will we accept Marshall into the Bells pantheon if he could reproduce that performance today into the Finals? Jake won't care. He admitted this was a “black swan” when he said it was the “best heat of my career.” Said he didn't care what the judges thought, and by implication the general public, and just wanted to “let loose and do surfing that I'm proud of."
Jake (WSL/Sloane)
Americans making soulful statements about surfing the Bells Bowl? That probably couldn't be predicted either.
From wishing it away, I now don't want it to end.
// STEVE SHEARER
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Men’s Round of 32 Remaining Results (Heats 9 - 16):
HEAT 9: Xavier Huxtable (AUS) 13.66 DEF. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 9.67
HEAT 10: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14.60 DEF. Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 13.27
HEAT 11: Samuel Pupo (BRA) 14.66 DEF. Rio Waida (INA) 8.00
HEAT 12: Ian Gentil (HAW) 13.50 DEF. Barron Mamiya (HAW) 11.76
HEAT 13: Yago Dora (BRA) 12.46 DEF. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.73
HEAT 14: Jake Marshall (USA) 18.33 DEF. Joao Chianca (BRA) 15.74
HEAT 15: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 15.60 DEF. George Pittar (AUS) 11.90
HEAT 16: Jack Robinson (AUS) 16.13 DEF. Jackson Bunch (HAW) 14.77
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Men’s Round of 16 Results (Heats 1 - 5):
HEAT 1: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 18.76 DEF. Connor O'Leary (JPN) 13.34
HEAT 2: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.60 DEF. Seth Moniz (HAW) 13.03
HEAT 3: Jordy Smith (RSA) 15.50 DEF. Joel Vaughan (AUS) 11.57
HEAT 4: Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 14.10 DEF. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 12.60
HEAT 5: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 12.90 DEF. Xavier Huxtable (AUS) 3.00
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Men’s Round of 16 Remaining Matchups (Heats 6 - 8):
HEAT 6: Samuel Pupo (BRA) vs. Ian Gentil (HAW)
HEAT 7: Yago Dora (BRA) vs. Jake Marshall (USA)
HEAT 8: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Jack Robinson (AUS)
Comments
That’s the spirit, Steve.
Good to see that even the pro's can have trouble when that wind gets a bit too much north it.
Frustrating as for us mere mortals.Ewings heat conditions did look pretty nice though.
Will they go all the way today or wait for tomorrow??
Agreed, EE deserved a 10 on that third wave, for posterity’s sake. Also for refusing to hop like an idiot through to a shitty shorey end section.
Unfortunately EE’s got a habit of peaking too early which I think will happen again, probably against Kanoa with a pair of 6’s. I’d be very happy to be proven wrong though.
Would appreciate it if the judges just sent out the message that they're no longer paying any meagre points for the shorebreak and collectively, everyone could take a leaf from Ethan's book and just kick out like a boss
crazy to compare the high scores of jake marshall, Ethan and filepe. especially jake marshals 9.3.
Sincerely hope all the Bells nay-sayers tuned in yesterday .....
Epic !
great wrap steve- that was one of the best days, and something i will count myself blessed to have witnessed
matty mc did this great lttle mid face tail slide heading back to the foam- i watched the replay last night and thought it was a cool thing
X laid down some great turns in the first heat of the day, and one had the feeling the rest of the crew were put on notice ( the ones that were up to the task)
JR didn't flub that turn.
Both hands behind him is the clue,
rail buried to within an inch of the nose and then totally disappeared into the hook
and then re appeared,
did it twice.
Totally meant it.
No one else did anything like it.
Variety and super critical move in the most critical part of the wave.
One of the most extreme manoeuvres of the day easily.
Mind you I am biased .....love Jack Robbo......always delivers the unexpected.
I agree with you on most of this RI, it was balls to the wall, I love watching someone push past full control, if they can ride it out to advantage. When you say no one else did anything like it, I don't agree. Ethan Ewing's surfing was sublime - totally connected, full tilt, with nothing forced. The commentators were grasping for superlatives and comparisons to past greats, not for no reason.
Yes EE was incredible to watch and so cool and calm always....I meant no one else did a double arm layback back into the tube, rebounded inside and came back out like JR
His core must be so strong.
EE a precision surgeon, JR more chaotic.
No argument with that. I actually think there should be extra points for unbelievable recoveries from extreme pushing. Slater once came off his board inside the barrel at Chopes and got a ridiculously low score for his "Error"? , I was gobsmacked thinking fuck - give him a ten. Dane Reynolds once did something that looked like a barrel role that he road out of, they did the same, I thought the same. Now, in their blather they refer to "safety surfing". As for J.R. , yes his combination of read, balls, skill and unpredictability always has me wishing. Can't fault him on his choice of wife either.
Judges saw it your way too Rocky.
I'm a huge Jack Robbo fan as well- I just like my Bells surfing to be clean and tidy.
Toledo’s 8.5 was an Ethan 5. The constant push with this guy is ridiculous, the shit Joe dribbles when he’s in the water is out of control
I think thats a bit harsh SL67- Toledo's turns were full speed and full power in the Bowl- they had to go 8 at least IMO.
Agree to disagree Steve. I just watched his one good wave again, lots of flappy arm pumping and until his third turn didn't bring it right around for the redirect. The overly exaggerated head down landing in the shorie was pure acting (reminiscent of Sally Fitz) and the claim hideous and unnecessary. 7 something maybe
Sadly didn't see one wave. That's why these post-mortems are such good summaries of the days action.
I'm going Kanoa for the bell!
Just fucking with you. Go Ethan!
Note to Ethan, some purists think your man turns aren't manly enough haha
?si=kAObTDocQAJgLs6RI love the karate kicks placed perfectly into the face of the Bells Bowl.
This one's for Ms Flick who is the plant, the insider, ( I would say the M word, but she'd come for me and as cute as she is, probably pound me)
Body Torque, let me hear your body Torque
If she turns up in leg warmers, it's a sign
As always, a surf just contest needs...surf. Decent surf. Good surf. The rest works itself out
It's incredible how hard that simple requirement is to fulfil for the Woz.
To me Ethans surfing was pretty much as good as it gets at Bells......Jake 'the Black Swan ' was awesome .....very likeable .......Jordy is ripping and Morgs go son....all in all a great day of competition, just hope its 4-6ft and clean for tomorrow........could be all time
I agree with your thoughts on the quad. I don't know why more don't ride them at fat point breaks but given Toledo is fastest on a thruster anyway, maybe the others have conceded defeat?
I checked Ethan Ewing's wave and it was nice but I also checked the Punta Roca forecast at the moment and even with all the level 10 jingoism on here, Punta Roca would be shitting all over Bells at the moment.
Whoever schedules the events should be sacked.
I don't think that's a fair call re scheduling.
There is no way to know - a year in advance - whether a twelve day window will see a lengthy stretch of pumping surf. That goes for pretty much anywhere in the world.
Local folklore used to state that an "early Easter" was terrible for waves at Bells, because it was too soon for the surf to pump (the theory being that we needed to be closer to the winter storm patterns). But here we are in 2025 with a late Easter - and the waves haven't been epic by any stretch - yet just a few weeks earlier, the Surf Coast went through an extended run of pumping surf.
Schedule events west to east ? That would improve their strike rate ?
At least a late Easter provides a more active sea state and potential for NW winds and less SE. It's a good season for beachies. A backup site would be ideal.
"At least a late Easter provides a more active sea state and potential for NW winds and less SE."
Eh? That's not true at all, just folklore.
Bells is historically interwoven with Easter, which is unreal I reckon. And I don't think the changing Easter dates affects the event's surf potential. If I had more time on my hands I'd go through the archives of good/bad event surf vs early/late Easter and come up with some stats, but right now I'd hazard a guess it'd be split down the middle.
Nup. Temu Fanning. Way too busy between turns which resulted in the turns not utilizing the whole wave. Overcoached style. Great surfing. Top 5 performances at Bells ever is laughable....but believe the hype. The woz are good at selling the hype.
I think Ethan's style is better than Fanning's - smoother, more relaxed, less hunched and frantic.
In some ways true, but still think Micko did way less between turns hence allowed him to use the whole face as a canvas, more drawn out carves..
Anyway, eye of the beholder etc.
I assume you’re talking about Ethan?
I think you may have your 2000 coloured glasses on. I took what you’ve been saying and have rewatched some footage of Parko and Mick at Bells in their prime………..Ethan is unmatched for precision, speed, style and power - I was actually surprised as I used to think Parko was the epitome, not now…..
https://m.
&pp=ygURUGFya28gYmVsbHMgYmVhY2g%3DWill have to agree to disagree there, esp re Parko. The bigger it got the better his turns got. Way smoother too.
Nah it’s not “believing the hype”, pretty sure the punters who are a fan of Ewings surfing can think independently.
Dunno Moonah...funny things happen over there in the East. hehe.
Fair enough though.
If anyone wants to break down the 9.33 of Ethans for me and explain how that score and wave wasn't overhyped.....i'd be willing to discuss. Where did the 9.33 come from???
Love to but off to take the kids for a bush walk in the rain.
You’ll just have to trust me it was a good wave @southern ha ha
Sounds great @moonah.
Just for arguments sake, i saw a floater, which was good on a big section, but a floater, a drawn out carve that was no standout at all compared to other turns done that day, and then a bogged turn folllowed up by a couple of similar carves in the shorey and a closeout hit.
I thought the one turn Xavier huxtable did in his heat was better than any of the turns done by Ewing also.
Strongly disagree on all that SR.
One thing EE does not have is an over-coached style- his style is completely unique.
Look at turn one on wave one- straight after he does the floater- he cuts the Bells Bowl in half with a full rail, full speed turn.
Very few people have been able to carve so hard against the trim line at full speed.
Fair enough. It's great surfing, no argument there.
Lets see him do those turns when it's 8foot though and pushing back, and he doesn't have the luxury of precision and breaking the wave in half.
I still don't think his style stacks up to match proper power with power, as much as the Bells greats of the past do. Too much pumping and too busy between turns....not one long continuous line linking turns and holding speed.
Just a personal preference.
But shit yeah he was ripping for sure. No argument there.
Hey Ben, can you get MF on the line?
SR, just had another squiz at Ewing vs O'Leary, I saw very, very little in the way of bottom turn double pumps or being overly busy or anything like that.
Kinda looked the opposite to what you said above, to me it looked super smooth and continuous and flowing, linking turns and maintaining speed.
No arm flails, no bobbles.
Apart from JJF, I can't think of anyone else who matches him.
Wow really @andyM. Saw it on each ride. Especially when pulled back and viewed from side on looking into the bowl.
To be honest i thought i must have missed one of his heats because i watched this live and thought not bad, pretty damn good. But when i heard he put on a display for the ages, i thought i'd missed something!! haha.
Anyway, horses for courses or something like that. The consensus is strongly against me on this one but no worries.
Peace out *insert peace sign*
Always @AndyM. Right back atchya.
FR, Jake Marshall being masterful at Bells has been foreshadowed, it hasn't come out of the blue. Last year, or one before he was out in a heat Winki and the flow, speed and critical turns were showing everyone up that day.
And another highlight was after a board was snapped (Moniz?) the three-quarters of nose being fought over by hungry grommets in the shorebreak!
I thought Marshalls surfing was the most superior of the day by a long way VJ.
The judges agree with you, no ones arguing Jake went massive, I was just stoked for Ethan to fulfill some of his potential for shredding Bells and its a shame if he won't get another chance because I think he'd put your argument to bed
Fair enough SL. Id be happy if he did.
8-10 foot Bells and EE on a 6'3 or 6'6" could be pretty special. He wouldn't need to double or triple pump for speed at that size thats for sure!!
So enjoy making the comparisons of forehand shred masters
Also of note was Leo, particularly through the held rail on the bottom turns into his critical manoeuvres, just a joy to see that. No/very few double pumps or semi pumps yet still made the distance - kudos!
I really liked Ethan's 9.43 too, that was a special wave and the viciousness of the last hit made me go whoaaaa!
one of the finals at trestles kelly gave a really good run down on filipes quads, faster but less forgiving for air reverses and harder to snap
Was an awesome day to watch.
EE taking over from JJ as the best turns in competitive surfing he just has to keep doing them (I could be fanboying here). I see EE winning a championship before Robo.
Marshall bought the A game and was sublime, j not as A game as EE. Very close but not quite there…..yet.
EE, an all-round class act, to me that layback hack was the move of the event so far.
I would rather watch him surf than anyone else on the planet.
Hard to slag off Ethan yesterday Steve!
I also reckon EEs surfing was about as good as could be in those waves.
Also agree that they should just get rid of the requirement to hop like a pleb for the shorebreak. It's awful to watch.
If the wave connects all the way then fine but otherwise be like Ethan and let it be.
Leo going out of his way to acknowledge his competitors is a mark of respect from a gentleman and should be treated with good manners and courtesy. Just saying
If he's feral in the contest, that's just being pro, he'd have you over for dinner in a flash and you would eat till you're sick.
Hug it out lads
Was the Kelly 94 bells wave milking it to the beach/button, with the fist pump on the sand, the beginning of the current bells scoring “formula”?
Good question- any greybeards witness early Bells comps?
I think they were doing it in the 80's at least LD.