Julian Wilson knows how it feels to be in the minds of the ten men and women who are preparing for the world title showdown at Trestles in less than two weeks. While there was no Final Five format when Julian was in the mix, the former world no.2 is well aware how hard it is to achieve world champ status. When chatting to Julian earlier this month about the Tahiti Pro, I also asked him for his 2023 world champ predictions, if (as a competitor) he’d prefer the Final Five format over the old system, and who he reckons would be the right fit to lead the World Surf League.
TRACKS: As someone who’s been in a world title race, how would you feel competing at Trestles on the Final Five day?
Julian: Yeah, I mean, as a fan, it’s a hard one to sort of appreciate and respect that it comes down to, you know, a world title at Trestles on one day. Given how large the range in points can be. It’s definitely a tricky one for sure.
I think you know if I was competing, obviously, Top Five is a hell of a lot more achievable than No. 1. If you’re getting that top five, you have a very realistic shot at a world title – massively higher odds than it ever was before. So when you’re competing you’re excited about the concept and you have a very achievable goal, when you set out at the start of the year. And yeah, like Steph proved last year, you can sort of just scratch into that top five, and then you can be walking away with a world title at the end of that final day.
Who do you have as the world champ in September?
If Toledo’s healthy, he’s sort of the one to beat on the men’s side.
Just the way that Trestles suits his surfing. He’s a favourite at Trestles and he’s likely (interview conducted prior to Toledo’s no.1 confirmation) to be coming in as world number one, so he’s going to be the man to beat.
On the women’s side, Carissa is going to be the girl to beat for sure. She’ll be hurting from last year, having a title taken in the way it did in those last few heats. I think she’s got an itch to scratch and she’s proven to be dominant, and she’ll definitely be the one to beat, I pick. Yeah, Toledo, and Carissa are my picks as the Champs.
It’s been an interesting year for pro-surfing (E-LO drama etc). As someone who’s been in the surf industry for decades and has competed as a pro surfer, who do you think would be a good fit to take the reins at the WSL?
JW: I think Bob Hurley would be great, He’s extremely passionate and connected to the industry. He’s had great success with brands, and he’s had great success with picking great talent. He’s put on great events through Hurley and through brands that he’s connected with. Just really passionate, really smart, switched on, and someone that the surfers would really respect. I definitely have thought about it.
It is a weird, a very strange time for competitive surfing, I think, you know, just the way that E-Lo just sort of disappeared overnight. And you know, to see all the top guys and girls not even sort of say thanks, or goodbye or anything and obviously show that, you know, there wasn’t a lot of respect there. You know, you can’t really hide that or deny that it’s just time to maybe get somebody like a Bob Hurley that has that respect and knows the waves that the top competitors are looking to surf and how they would like them run; the format and everything. I think it’s a great time to sort of build from and get somebody in that’s really going to, you know, elevate sort of where the tour’s at because I think there’s a lot of question marks on it at the moment.
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