The women have finally entered the chat. After a 12-year hiatus and a few days in the sand, the women’s CT officially ran it back at Sunset Beach. It’s a homecoming for Tyler Wright, Carissa Moore and Steph Gilmore, who have all taken home the Sunset trophy in the past, and Sally Fitz, who came close to victory (twice!!) at the iconic reef/point break along the seven-mile miracle. Aside from these tour veterans, though, not many of the girls have surfed Sunset Beach in a jersey or surfed Sunset Beach at all.
Which made me realise how young the 2022 women CT class is. To put things into perspective. Luana Silva was six years old when Tyler Wright, then an event wildcard, won the last Sunset CT in 2010. Molly Picklum was 8, and Bettylou Sakura Johnson just turned 5. These stats are nuts but equally speak volumes about the progression of women’s surfing in recent years.
I’m going out on a limb here and saying that watching the women’s opening round was more exciting than watching the men. The women have more of a “thrill factor”. The field of talent is more evenly matched, and other than perhaps Carissa, Steph and Tyler, it’s virtually anyone’s game, which Molly Picklum proved in the maiden heat of the morning.
Molly is 2/2 in round 1 heat wins here on the North Shore, not bad for a girl who hasn’t really been to Hawaii before (her words, not mine). One other contender who is 2/2 in her opening heats is Rookie Bettylou Sakura Johnson. Johnson surfs way beyond her years. She is so young. She is so tiny – which isn’t meant to be disparaging, but rather emphasize how good she is. In a heat with 5x world champ Carissa Moore, and Pipeline queen Moana Jones Wong, in 8-10ft waves, threw hammer turns at Sunset as Sunset threw freight trains at her.
Sunset at this size can get under your skin. It’s almost perfect enough to feel comfortable out there, only to get humbled by a cleanup set that shakes you to the core. The women kept saying it in their post-heat interviews, “it’s way bigger than it looks on camera,” now throw some offshore winds into the mix, and you’ll get an idea of how demanding of a wave Sunset can be.
Just ask Steph Gilmore. The all Aussie matchup and last heat of Round 1 promised so much but gave us so little. Tyler Wright and India Robinson were solid. But, Steph Gilmore, perhaps still feeling Rona breathing down her neck, wasn’t – booking her place in the elimination round.
Speaking of the elimination round. I realise that someone, somewhere in the WSL corner office, is a big fan of the NFL, hyping up that new heat draw format. But it ain’t working!
Steph Gilmore had a two-minute breather between her Round 1 heat and her surf off against Hawaiian duo Luana Silva and Moana Jones Wong. Barely enough time to get back to the take-off zone before the start of the horn. This might be a good idea when you’re trying to squeeze in a quicky on your twinny during a lunch break, but hardly in 8-10ft belting Sunset Beach.
Nevertheless, Steph made it through, still looking slightly hungover. On the contrary, the Queen of Pipe did not, which means we say à bientôt to the second surfer (after Slater) in the Maillot Jaune.
Upset alert, and we aren’t even past brunch time!
Round 16
When you think of favourites, always the same few names come up. Carissa, Steph, Caroline, and in some camps, Tyler or Tati. One name that frequently gets ignored is Johanne Defay – despite her Top 5 finish last year. She rips. She rips so hard that O’Neill decided to slap its logos on the nose of her board for the season, assembling quite the team in the process. Those wetties must go off the shelves like hot candy.
In more big news, Malia Manuel sent Tyler Wright, still the defending Sunset champ nonetheless, packing in Round 16. A couple of mid-range scores were enough for the local Hawaiian to squeeze through to the Quarters. One other Hawaiian comfortably into the Quarters is Luana Silva. She sent Tati Weston-Webb to the sidelines of the Red Bull athlete zone.
Actually, the Round of 16 has been one of the better competitive sporting events I’ve watched in some time. Every heat delivered some sort of storyline. But let’s talk about all these big names dropping like dominos for a second. Heats 2 to 5, 7 and 8 followed the same pattern. A big name comes up against; A, an up-and-comer, or B, a rookie, or C an underdog and gets smoked!
Tyler, Tati and Steph Gilmore were all defeated by local knowledge. Carissa lost to Molly Picklum, who had barely surfed Sunset before. Sally Fitz misses out on the Quarters as well, coming up short against fellow Aussie India Robinson. While in the last heat of Round 16, Betty Lou Sakura Johnson gets the nod over Lakey Peterson. My head is cooking! Just like on the men’s side, we have no World Champs left in the draw, which makes me wonder, are we witnessing a changing of the guard right in front of our eyes?
Quarterfinals
The local girls kept flexing in the Quarterfinals, taking out 3 out of 4 heats to solidify their dominance on home ground. Unfortunately, Johanne Defay, who messed up my Fantasy dreams, lost to an in-form-all-event Malia Manuel.
In the all-Hawaiian matchup, Gabriela Bryan beat Luana Silva in one of the funnest heats of the event. Gabriela Bryan has a gnarly bottom turn. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, playback her 8.27, and you’ll pull your hair out!
On the other side of the draw, the Hawaiian season is over for Molly Picklum and India Robinson, who came up short against Brisa Hennessy and Bettylou Sakura Johnson, respectively.
The stage is set
When we return, both men and women are headed into finals day. With plenty of swell on tap, a few rookies and wildcards still in the mix, and every big name in the draw already sent packing, this will be a pretty epic affair!
