Margaret River dishes up some of the best waves on the Championship Tour, and has been the scene of many of the greatest rides in recent memory over the past few years. Who could forget Sebastian Zietz’s 10-pointer back in 2017, when he set up shop deeper than what appeared humanly possible inside a perfect tube for what felt like about a minute? The picturesque location has actually been hosting professional surfing events since way back in 1985, when Mark Occhilupo won what was then called the Emu Bitter Thriller, and with another incarnation of the event beginning over the next couple of days we thought now would be a good time to look at the most successful surfers at Margaret River.
Melanie Redman-Carr
Melanie Redman-Carr was never able to get any further than the #2 ranking in the world, but despite that she can lay claim to being the most successful surfer in history at Margaret River. And it’s little surprise – born and raised in Busselton, just a little over half an hour to the north-east of Margaret River, she spent much of her childhood surfing the powerful break. Not surprisingly she got pretty used to the punishing conditions the spot can serve up, and she excelled most when it got big and scary. She first made the final in 1998 but went down to Prue Jeffries before repeating the dose in 1999, on that occasion narrowly losing to Kate Skarratt. She made it three finals in a row in 2000, but that time she finally won her first event at her home break. It was already an incredible run, but it was only just beginning – in 2001 and 2002 she again won the event, before making the final and losing in 2003, making it an incredible six consecutive finals appearances with three wins in that time. A few years later at the age of 34, she finished off an incredible career at the break, becoming the only ever surfer to win there four times in 2009.
John John Florence
John John is no stranger to success at Margaret River. In fact, with the 2020 edition of the event having been cancelled as a result of the pandemic and the 2018 edition having been moved to Bali halfway through as a result of nearby shark-related issues, he will this year be shooting for a third consecutive Margaret River Pro victory after winning it in 2017 and 2019. Testament to both how good the waves are here and how well Florence rides them, he won those two events with scores of 19.03 and 18.5 in the two respective finals – you have to feel for Kolohe Andino, who was runner-up with solid scores of his own on both occasions. Florence also won it back in 2012 when he was just 19 years of age, and those three victories are enough to have him the equal most successful male surfer at the event in history.
Tom Carroll
Two-time world champion Tom Carroll joins John John as a three-time event at Margaret River – or should we say John John joined him after his 2019 victory. Carroll’s wins, of course, came a little earlier than those of Florence. The Sydneysider won just the second edition of the event way back in 1986, when he beat Tom Curren in what was then called the Swan Premium Thriller. The next year, he saluted again, this time in an event called the Drug Offensive Thriller – clearly the event was having trouble finding a permanent sponsor. He made the final for the third time in four years in 1989, going down to Dave Macauley, but completed the hattrick three years later when he won a tight one in 1992.
Courtney Conlogue
Courtney Conlogue has been a consistent presence in the top ten of the Championship Tour for a number of years now, and it was at Margaret River that she first began her ascent towards surfing’s elite. She first won in 2011 when she was just 18 years of age, and went back-to-back the year after in what was an incredible start to her career at the event. After Carissa Moore went back-to-back over the next two years, she and Conlogue appropriately faced off in the 2015 final, each attempting to join the rare club of three-time Margaret River winners. Conlogue surfed brilliantly to put together a big score of 16.93, fending off Moore by nearly four points to join Carroll and Florence with three event wins.
The Rest
The four aforementioned surfers are the only to ever win at Margaret River on three occasions, but there is a big pack sitting behind them with two wins. Mark Occhilupo forms part of that chasing pack and comfortably owns the record for the longest gap between two event victories here – he won the inaugural edition back in 1985, then won for a second time 21 years later in 2006. The legendary Pam Burridge and Wendy Botha also saluted on a couple of occasions here, as did Barton Lynch.
As mentioned, Carissa Moore is another with multiple wins having gone back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, but since then she has been unable to add to her silverware cabinet here. She will get every chance to join the illustrious group of three-time winners in the upcoming event, which she heads into as the favourite.
Most years the Margaret River Pro sees some of the best waves of the season, and many of the biggest names in surfing history have had great success here. There is plenty of swell forecast for the initial days of the event, meaning surfers accustomed to taking on big waves will be significantly favoured. Carissa Moore is one who will certainly benefit from big conditions, and she’ll get her chance to become the fifth surfer to ever win three times at Margaret River. On the men’s side, John John Florence has a chance to join an even more exclusive club – he too will relish heavy conditions, and if he’s able to turn his form around and get the job done, he’ll join local Melanie Redman-Carr as the most successful surfer ever at Margaret River.
