With the Surf Ranch Pro now behind us, just four events remain on the Championship Tour before our final five are decided and we head to Trestles for the WSL Finals. Next up is the Surf City El Salvador Pro in the long, rippable right that is Punta Roca, an event which was last year taken out by Steph Gilmore and Griffin Colapinto. But before we get into this year’s edition of the contest, let’s take a quick look at who was best able to mimic a surfing robot at Kelly’s wave pool last week.
Surf Ranch Pro
The Surf Ranch Pro is a bizarre event, there’s no two ways about it. Certainly the critics complaining about it being repetitive have a valid point, but equally there’s something to be said for knowing when each heat is going to take place in advance, and the night heats make for decent viewing too. Still, the surfer in us all will probably struggle to ever fully embrace it in the same way we do other events, but whatever we think, 10,000 points were on the line.
On the men’s side, for the first time the contest wasn’t dominated by Brazilians, and a revolt of sort ensued. Filipe Toledo and Gabriel Medina have been the two finalists in each of the first three incarnations of the event, but neither of them made it this time around. Their countryman Italo Ferreira did, but despite outsurfing Griffin Colapinto in the final in the eyes of many, it was Colapinto who got the win. Each of those three sounded off about the judging on social media; it reeks a little of losing badly, but also, maybe they have a point. Whichever side of the fence you sit, it’s a criticism that the WSL have opened themselves up to by having this event at the wave pool, on which there is far less to differentiate competitors from one another. But that’s a conversation for another day – Colapinto won, and now has the yellow jersey after six events.
The women’s side endured a little less controversy, as it has since the inception of the contest – unsurprising given there have been three different winners in as many years. For the first time, however, a repeat winner was crowned, with the unstoppable Carissa Moore knocking off Caroline Marks in the final with a 16.53-15.43 scoreline. That made it two wins in two events for Moore, and helped her to extend her lead atop the world rankings.
Women’s Surf City El Salvador Pro
When it’s on, the wave at Punta Roca in El Salvador is one of the best right-handers in the world, a lengthy wave with plenty of room to manoeuvre. Last year was its first on tour, adding to the plethora of rights available throughout the year for the regular footers to tear apart, and Steph Gilmore duly obliged with a win which was somewhat out of the blue given her prior form, but ultimately a sign of things to come later in the year. She currently finds herself in a similar spot as this time last year, so can she once again catapult into contention with a strong result, or will we crown a new champion?
The Favourites
Carissa Moore has won the last two events and three for the season, now finding herself more than 5,000 points clear at the top of the leaderboard, so yeah – she’s the favourite here. She only made it to the quarterfinals here last year – ‘only’ being a relative term – but she didn’t exactly struggle; in her Elimination Round heat she put up a 15.66, before going down to an impressive Caroline Marks the next round. She surfs every wave well, but a wave with plenty of wall to play around on, and a right-hander no less, there’s nobody better. Given the form she currently has behind it, the yellow jersey wearer should be right there at the business end of this event.
Moore’s perennial biggest threat is Tyler Wright, and though she’s coming off a disappointing result at the Surf Ranch and missed this event last year, that’s no different at this event. Last year, this contest was where things really began to unravel for her, with a second consecutive missed event due to Covid – this one as a result of complications after a bout of it. She’ll be keen to right the ship this time around, particularly after an early exit in Lemoore. Despite that showing she’s still sitting in second in the world rankings – no surprise given she made the finals at the two prior events and has made the final four in four of six events – so don’t expect that to be any more than a blip on the radar. She should bounce right back into contention at El Salvador.
The Next Tier
The first goofy footer on this list, Caroline Marks has demonstrated that she has no issues surfing her backhand in the past, with her performance here last year a prime example. After virtually missing all of the first six events with injury, she returned to the Championship Tour at this event last year, and wasted no time recapturing the form which has made her one of the most exciting young talents on the tour in a very long time with a semi-final finish. She’s endured a bit of a rough couple of years from a surfing perspective, but that result signalled something of a return, and this year she’s been back to close to her powerful best and finds herself in fourth in the world rankings as a result. She enters the Surf City El Salvador Pro in fine form having made the final at the Surf Ranch Pro and the semis at the Margaret River Pro just prior, so though she’ll be facing the crowd rather than the sea, expect that powerful backhand to deliver plenty of violent turns and some big scores.
Steph Gilmore’s year to date has been pretty similar to 2022. Last year, she made a habit of picking up 5thplace finishes, doing it in three consecutive events prior to this corresponding contest alongside a 9th and. 3rd. This year, she’s again got three 5th place finishes in six events, you guessed it, alongside a 9th and a 3rd (as well as a throwaway at Pipeline). But while that form line doesn’t look particularly promising, it didn’t stop her last year. That time around she was electric, turning back the clock with successive heat scores from the Elimination Round onwards of 14.40, 16.20, 14.50 and then 13.00 to win the final. On her day she’s still as good as anyone, and she certainly had that day here last year. There’s no reason that she can’t do it again this time around.
Molly Picklum has been a revelation this season, surprising everyone with a win at Sunset Beach – just the seventh CT event of her career – and continuing on her merry way ever since. She hasn’t won another event yet, but she also hasn’t finished below 5th in any of the six events in which she’s competed this year. That’s enough to have her sitting in third place and very much in the world title mix, and a big result here would go a long way to solidifying those chances even further. Last year she didn’t compete here, but on the other ropey long right she’s competed on so far this year – Bells Beach – she made the final, so it’s safe to assume she’ll manage the conditions reasonably well.
The Roughie
Johanne Defay hasn’t exactly had the season she would have wanted after something of a breakout last year, missing the first three events then picking up a 17th and a 9th in the next two. She was well below the cut line as a result, but received a wildcard from the WSL to enable her to compete in the back half of the year. Her first result after that was a 5th at the Surf Ranch Pro, which nearly doubled her number of rankings points for the year, and with a gap of over 15,000 separating her from fifth she’ll need an incredible run of form to make the WSL Finals. A win here would be a nice start, and though she hasn’t been in the mix at any event all year, she’s more than capable. She showed plenty here last year, with a 13.26 in the Elimination Round and a 15.60 in the quarterfinals before being knocked out in the semis, and there’s no reason to think that she can’t spring a surprise and get herself vaguely back in the picture for a top five finish with a big result over the next week.
The Verdict
It’s always hard to tip against either Carissa Moore or Tyler Wright, but hey, life is for living. Tipping a goofy footer winning on a wave like this isn’t typically advisable, but Caroline Marks isn’t a typical surfer either, and is beginning to hit some ominous form. It’s been over two years since she last won on the CT, but she’s surfing brilliantly and was really good here last year. With a 3rd two events ago and a 2nd last week, she can continue that trend and notch up her first victory since 2021.
Men’s Surf City El Salvador Pro
The first ever men’s Surf City El Salvador Pro was dominated by Brazilians, with each of Ferreira, Toledo and Medina making it through to the semi-finals. Griffin Colapinto was the sole non-Brazilian in the final four, but he poured water on the hopes of the South American nation by narrowly beating Medina in the semis then knocking out Toledo 17.00-16.00 in the final. Coming off a win at the Surf Ranch Pro and with the yellow jersey on his back this time around, he will again be one of the favourites to take it out, though he will have no shortage of quality competition.
The Favourites
For the reasons mentioned above, it would be hard to not have Griffin Colapinto right up there in the list of favourites for this event. It still feels a little hard to put him at the top given the quality of surfers he’s up against; the likes of the more proven Medina and Toledo, with John John Florence still chugging along, and even with Jack Robinson looking to bounce back to form after a slow couple of months. But Colapinto is ticking all the boxes. He’s now made the final in three of six events this year, including each of the last two, and has put himself ahead of all the above names in the world rankings as a result. With a win here last year as well, he well and truly deserves to be viewed as one of, if not the, surfer to beat this week.
Somebody who is very capable of doing that is Filipe Toledo, which he very nearly did last year. Toledo tore this wave to shreds like nobody else, starting off with a 13.83 in the Opening Round and then going on to score 14.66, 16.67, 17.10 and 16.00. Those kind of scores are obviously extremely tough to beat, and there’s no reason he won’t repeat that effort this year. He’s sitting in third in the world rankings with consecutive results of 3rd, 5th and 3rd over the past three contests, but he’ll be looking to go one or two better this time around. This wave suits him to a tee, and it will take a very big score to knock him out.
Jack Robinson hasn’t been quite in the form of the above two names, with two 17th place finishes and an injury withdrawal in his past three events, but in the early parts of the year he established himself as pretty much the best surfer in the world. In the opening three events he went 1st, 3rd, 2nd, and though he’s dropped off since then, that form was no accident. This guy is a freakshow, and can rip this wave to shreds. After winning his Opening Round heat here relatively comfortably last year, he put together a 17.76 in the Round of 16 – which ended up being the highest score of the event. Unfortunately he followed it up with a 6.50 and was promptly eliminated. A year later, that inconsistency is a lot less common – even if his recent results don’t suggest as much. If he can get near the form he displayed earlier in the season, he is probably the man to beat.
The Next Tier
It’s testament to the quality of the world tour this season that Medina is this far down the list, and realistically there are a couple more names which could be ahead of him too. He had an uncharacteristically slow start to the year after missing the first half of last year, finishing 9th in each of the first four events, but bounced back with a win at Margaret River, before a disappointing 5th at the Surf Ranch Pro – where he’s made the final each of the first three times the event was run. He’s not at his absolute best but he’s still pretty damn good, and is the best chance for a goofy footer to win this contest on their backhand. At the corresponding event last year – just his second back on the tour – he averaged 14.04 points per heat and only lost by 0.13 in the semis to Colapinto, so the signs from that are that he’s pretty comfortable on this wave. A win would be no surprise for the three-time world champ.
Speaking of multi-time world champs, John John Florence also hasn’t quite had the year of which he is capable. Finally seeming to be headed for an injury-free season (everybody touch wood), he’s competed in all six events so far this year but hasn’t yet made a final. He’s got a couple of semis to his name, but by his lofty standards he’s been subpar and has work to do to get into the top five. With just four events to go before the WSL Finals are decided, he’ll be keen to get going on that work ASAP. He missed this event last year, but we don’t need to see him at Punta Roca to imagine what he can do here; he’s capable of winning at any wave in the world, and this one shouldn’t be any different. It will take a significant turnaround in form, but he’s certainly not without a chance.
It could certainly be argued that Joao Chianca deserves to be higher on this list, but I suppose that’s what happens when you’re a world champion – you get the benefit of the doubt even when the form isn’t there. For Chianca, it’s the opposite; he’s only 22 and in just his second year on the tour (and finished 29th last year), but he’s quickly established himself as one of the best in the world this season. He finished 5th at the Surf Ranch Pro, and that was just the second time in six events this season that he hasn’t made the semi-finals. That consistency is second to none, so while he hasn’t surfed this event before it’s a safe bet that he’ll go pretty deep in it this year.
The Roughie
Is Ethan Ewing a roughie? He is fourth in the world and made the WSL Finals last year, so probably not, but it’s also hard to know who of the above to cut in a list of the most likely winners of this event. Great for men’s surfing, not great if you’re one of the surfers hoping to win an event in such a stacked field. Ewing has managed to do so once this year, and that was at Bells, the other long, roping right we’ve had on tour thus far this season. That aside he’s made the semis just once, but a win combined with consistently making the quarters has him sitting just inside the top five. The aesthetically pleasing, laconic style of Ewing is best suited to waves with plenty of wall, and he demonstrated as much on the long canvases of Punta Roca last year. He averaged 14.34 in his four heats, ultimately losing in the quarterfinals to Italo Ferreira. He’s got plenty of competition to get past to win this thing, but he’s capable of doing it.
The Verdict
Hmmmmmmmm. This is a tough one. All of the above seven surfers have plenty of reason to expect to do well at this event, and making a call on who will go all the way is a bit of a case of pulling a name out of a hat. For me, that name is Jack Robinson. His best this year has been as good as anyone’s, and at the start of the season he looked like he was going to be unstoppable in 2023. That’s come grinding to a halt the last three events, but injuries have played a role in that. He’ll bounce back at some point, and on the rippable walls of Punta Roca, he can do it over the next week.
