Latest news with #ElSalvadorPro
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘Best day of my life', ‘surreal and special': Australian victories at Bells Beach mean more to local surfers
Each of the 11 stops on the World Surf League regular season count for the same amount of points as the world's best surfers vie to secure a spot in the year-end finals. But there is no doubting that the Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro, which wrapped up its 62nd edition over the weekend, has a unique place in surfing folklore. Winning the longest running event in competitive surfing and ringing its iconic bell trophy means more than most triumphs on the WSL circuit. 'This is the best day of my life,' said Australia's Isabella Nichols, minutes after defeating junior world champion Luana Silva in the women's final on Sunday afternoon. Having clinched the victory in the water, Nichols surfed a gentle wave towards the shore – lifting her arms and ringing an imaginary bell as she went. Advertisement Related: Missed the wedding but won Bells: Australian surfer Isabella Nichols finally gets her fairytale The Queenslander's victory was all the sweeter having lost the final at the El Salvador Pro a fortnight ago, which had meant she had to miss her twin sister's wedding. At Bells, the 27-year-old was chaired up the beach by her father and coach, to rapturous applause. 'I'm bloody stoked,' Nichols later added. The significance of success at Bells – a remarkable natural sporting amphitheatre, with steep cliffs, a packed beach and frequent large swells from Antarctica – was similarly felt on the men's side of the draw. Australia's Jack Robinson downed close friend Kanoa Igarashi, in a tightly-fought final contest. After Robinson vigorously rang the bell himself, the 27-year-old was asked whether he had been waiting to do that for a long time. 'I watched Mick [Fanning], Joel [Parkinson], Kelly [Slater] do it earlier today like 10 times,' Robinson said, listing some of his idols who have previously won the Bells Pro. 'I was like: 'We're almost there, just don't get too excited, just try to stay in the moment',' he said. 'It's really surreal and special.' It was the West Australian's eighth career WSL victory. Advertisement Nichols and Robinson's heroics concluded an entertaining edition of the traditional Easter-time sporting event. Local wildcard Xavier Huxtable knocked out world No 1 Italo Ferreira, while defending champion Caitlin Simmers was beaten by previously out-of-form veteran Sally Fitzgibbons. 2023 Bells winner Ethan Ewing produced what some described as the best surfing seen at Bells in the round of 16, only to lose in the quarter-finals to Igarashi, while trials winner Morgan Cibilic rampaged all the way through to the semis. The dual domestic victories at Bells underscored the rude health of Australian elite surfing. Three of the top five female surfers in the world at the moment are Australian: Nichols, Tyler Wright and Molly Picklum (the top five at the end of the season qualify for the finals). For the men, meanwhile, Ewing and Robinson are currently second and third in the world respectively. The identity of the Bells victors also highlighted how remarkably open the WSL campaign has been to date. Approaching the season's halfway point, no surfer – male or female – has won more than a single crown. Ewing and Picklum are distinct among the respective top five rankings, having not won an event so far but instead having displayed remarkable consistency. The world's best will not have long to gather their breath from a week and a half on the Victorian surf coast. The championship tour now moves to the Gold Coast, with the first day of the window beginning on Saturday. The event was originally due to be held at Snapper Rocks at Coolangatta, but the residual impact of ex-Cyclone Alfred on the sand banks has seen the event moved to Burleigh Heads. Advertisement Related: US Olympic committee sidesteps transgender athlete policy amid LA28 buildup Then just a few days after winners are crowned in Queensland, the WSL caravan will head to Margaret River for the third and final Australian leg of this year's schedule. The Western Australian event will play host the dreaded mid-season 'cut', with only the top 22 men and 10 women continuing onwards – for the remaining stops in California, Rio de Janeiro, South Africa and Tahiti, before the finals in Fiji. Bells Beach may not be the best wave in the world. There are sometimes grumbles about its quality as a perpetual stop on the WSL calendar; it largely fired for competitors over the week and a half, although Cibilic, Ewing and Wright will all feel a little let down by the temporary absence of waves that contributed to their respective exits. But Nichols' ringing of her air bell as she surfed towards a packed beach on Sunday was an apt reminder of the special place the Bells Beach Pro has at the spiritual heart of competitive surfing. As the WSL continues its three-stop swing through Australia, Australian surfing is on top of the world.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘Best day of my life', ‘surreal and special': Australian victories at Bells Beach mean more to local surfers
Each of the 11 stops on the World Surf League regular season count for the same amount of points as the world's best surfers vie to secure a spot in the year-end finals. But there is no doubting that the Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro, which wrapped up its 62nd edition over the weekend, has a unique place in surfing folklore. Winning the longest running event in competitive surfing and ringing its iconic bell trophy means more than most triumphs on the WSL circuit. 'This is the best day of my life,' said Australia's Isabella Nichols, minutes after defeating junior world champion Luana Silva in the women's final on Sunday afternoon. Having clinched the victory in the water, Nichols surfed a gentle wave towards the shore – lifting her arms and ringing an imaginary bell as she went. The Queenslander's victory was all the sweeter having lost the final at the El Salvador Pro a fortnight ago, which had meant she had to miss her twin sister's wedding. At Bells, the 27-year-old was chaired up the beach by her father and coach, to rapturous applause. 'I'm bloody stoked,' Nichols later added. The significance of success at Bells – a remarkable natural sporting amphitheatre, with steep cliffs, a packed beach and frequent large swells from Antarctica – was similarly felt on the men's side of the draw. Australia's Jack Robinson downed close friend Kanoa Igarashi, in a tightly-fought final contest. After Robinson vigorously rang the bell himself, the 27-year-old was asked whether he had been waiting to do that for a long time. 'I watched Mick [Fanning], Joel [Parkinson], Kelly [Slater] do it earlier today like 10 times,' Robinson said, listing some of his idols who have previously won the Bells Pro. 'I was like: 'We're almost there, just don't get too excited, just try to stay in the moment',' he said. 'It's really surreal and special.' It was the West Australian's eighth career WSL victory. Nichols and Robinson's heroics concluded an entertaining edition of the traditional Easter-time sporting event. Local wildcard Xavier Huxtable knocked out world No 1 Italo Ferreira, while defending champion Caitlin Simmers was beaten by previously out-of-form veteran Sally Fitzgibbons. 2023 Bells winner Ethan Ewing produced what some described as the best surfing seen at Bells in the round of 16, only to lose in the quarter-finals to Igarashi, while trials winner Morgan Cibilic rampaged all the way through to the semis. The dual domestic victories at Bells underscored the rude health of Australian elite surfing. Three of the top five female surfers in the world at the moment are Australian: Nichols, Tyler Wright and Molly Picklum (the top five at the end of the season qualify for the finals). For the men, meanwhile, Ewing and Robinson are currently second and third in the world respectively. The identity of the Bells victors also highlighted how remarkably open the WSL campaign has been to date. Approaching the season's halfway point, no surfer – male or female – has won more than a single crown. Ewing and Picklum are distinct among the respective top five rankings, having not won an event so far but instead having displayed remarkable consistency. The world's best will not have long to gather their breath from a week and a half on the Victorian surf coast. The championship tour now moves to the Gold Coast, with the first day of the window beginning on Saturday. The event was originally due to be held at Snapper Rocks at Coolangatta, but the residual impact of ex-Cyclone Alfred on the sand banks has seen the event moved to Burleigh Heads. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Then just a few days after winners are crowned in Queensland, the WSL caravan will head to Margaret River for the third and final Australian leg of this year's schedule. The Western Australian event will play host the dreaded mid-season 'cut', with only the top 22 men and 10 women continuing onwards – for the remaining stops in California, Rio de Janeiro, South Africa and Tahiti, before the finals in Fiji. Bells Beach may not be the best wave in the world. There are sometimes grumbles about its quality as a perpetual stop on the WSL calendar; it largely fired for competitors over the week and a half, although Cibilic, Ewing and Wright will all feel a little let down by the temporary absence of waves that contributed to their respective exits. But Nichols' ringing of her air bell as she surfed towards a packed beach on Sunday was an apt reminder of the special place the Bells Beach Pro has at the spiritual heart of competitive surfing. As the WSL continues its three-stop swing through Australia, Australian surfing is on top of the world.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Picklum through to quarter-finals in El Salvador
World No.2 surfer Molly Picklum has booked a spot in the quarter-finals of the El Salvador Pro with a comfortable win over American wildcard Kirra Pinkerton. The 22-year-old Australian won 12.57 to 11.53 in inconsistent conditions at Punta Roca on Saturday. "It was definitely not easy," said Picklum. "All these wildcards are deadly. They've done some damage already. "Obviously, she's a really good surfer and competitor as well. For me, I try and settle down. "It's not a rush, 35 minutes. I was stoked they added five minutes on so I could wait and be certain on a couple of waves I'm taking off on. "Trying to make decisions and take off on waves that make me excited and then just finish them." With an onshore wind picking up, the competition was called off for the day before the other two remaining Australians, Isabella Nicholls and two-time world champion Tyler Wright, got to contest their round-of-16 heats. Earlier in the day, current world No.1 Caity Simmers, advanced to her fourth straight quarter-final of the year with a 12.67-11.67 win over 2024 world junior champion Luana Silva from Brazil. "I was just doing some high lines and having some fun," Simmers said. "It's been a really great time. Just hanging out with your friends and it's the best thing ever."
The Guardian
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sierra and Josh Kerr: father-daughter duo who are the past, present and future of surfing
Sierra Kerr's qualification for the Challenger series, the second-tier of international surfing and pathway to the World Surf League, has been long foretold. Kerr, who recently turned 18, was a child surf prodigy; it was just a matter of time before the Australian – a former junior world champion – started climbing the competitive ladder. Less foreseen was what happened late last month, when the final qualifying event wrapped up and the 2025 Challenger series field was announced. Alongside Kerr on the list of surfers contesting the five-stop, five-country competition was none other than her father, Josh Kerr. Now 41, Kerr senior enjoyed a successful career on the WSL in the early 2010s, finishing in the top 10 for four consecutive years. An early pioneer of aerial surfing (he even has an above the lip manoeuvre – the Kerrupt – named after him), Kerr retired from the professional circuit in the late 2010s. But as he travelled the world with his daughter while she competed in recent years, Kerr decided he might as well join in. 'If I'm at the party I may as well dance,' he said last month. Sierra and Josh Kerr are hard to pin down. A busy travel schedule, surf competitions, illness and a cyclone all delayed their conversation with the Guardian. When the stars finally aligned, it took place with the WSL's current leg, the El Salvador Pro, on television in the background. This is a family that live and breathe surfing. Sierra made her WSL debut with a wildcard in Fiji last year and keeps a watchful eye on the current campaign. Several of her closest friends are competitors and, pending qualification through the Challenger series, she will join them at surfing's top table full-time next year. 'Last year I wasn't super wanting to qualify because I always wanted to finish high school before I do it,' Sierra says. 'I want to get on and start competing with all of my friends – Bettylou [Sakura Johnson], Caity [Simmers, the defending world champion], Molly [Picklum]. I want to see how I stack up against them and surf some good waves.' Josh, on the other hand, is very much taking a back-seat. 'Honestly, it's still just fun and games for me,' he laughs. When the competition 'rashie' is on, Josh says, he will be wanting to win – but there will be no elite athlete diets or gruelling training regimes for him. Kerr senior harbours no aspirations of a WSL return – although it is not beyond the realms of possibility (surf legend Kelly Slater was competing on the tour into his 50s). 'That would be pretty mental,' Sierra says with a laugh at the idea of joining the WSL with her father in tow. 'I don't know if he's gunning for it, but that would be sick.' Josh is quick to downplay the possibility. 'Let's just see if I can still mix it up,' he adds. The prospect of Josh – one of the best surfers in the world a decade and a half ago – competing with surfers half his age, the next generation of stars, will certainly make for great viewing when the Challenger series kicks off in Newcastle in June. But Josh shrugs off any suggestion that his rivals in the water might be intimidated. 'I don't know if they know who I am,' he says. 'I've been off tour for seven years, and all of these guys are between 17 and 21. I think they just see me as Sierra's dad.' Not surprisingly, given her father's career, Sierra has grown up around sport. In an Instagram post to celebrate her 18th birthday in February, Josh commented: 'from ballerina classes to skateboarding, golf, rugby, fishing, surfing and everything else in between, I've loved being right by your side.' But it was not until Sierra hit her teenager years that surfing came to the fore (she had initially been touted as a skateboarding prodigy). It was a trip to Indonesia that changed her sporting direction. Just 13, the Kerrs took Sierra on a surf trip alongside some of her young friends – Simmers, Bella Kenworthy (a WSL debutant this year), Erin Brooks (who joined Sierra as a WSL wildcard in Fiji last year and won the event, at just 17). 'There were heaps of the crew there, it was just so fun – pushing each other,' she says. 'That was the trip where I thought: 'This is pretty fun, I want to keep doing this'.' Josh says that he did not want to encourage Sierra into competitive surfing, and risk jeopardising its lifestyle role for her and the family. 'Surfing was always there for her in the background, as she focused on other sports,' he says. 'I didn't want surfing to be a 'sport' for her, until she wanted it to be.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The parent-child dynamic in sport can be fraught; there are countless examples of over-expecting parents pushing their children to breaking point. Josh admits that he is no stranger to these challenging dynamics. 'I watch it, on the sidelines,' he says. 'But I just try and be a father, first and foremost, and enjoy the experience.' Josh serves as Sierra's coach, but says he tries to keep it relatively light-touch. 'Surfing has given me everything in my life – so it's very special to me, as a past-time, a lifestyle,' Josh says. 'I want Sierra, no matter what happens with her surfing career, to still want to surf every day and enjoy the ocean.' Sierra comes of age at a thrilling time for women's surfing. Equal prize money, an integrated calendar and rapid advances in skill, in both heavy barrels and high-flying aerial maneuverers, have helped transform the sport. 'It's a great time to be coming up through the ranks,' says Sierra, in a slight American twang – inherited from her time living in California, before the Kerrs returned to the Gold Coast, and her American mother, Nikki Kerr. 'All of my friends – we're just trying to push the level of those who came before us, try to take it to a level that's never been seen before, and set the standard for the next generation.' There is a certain continuity in Sierra being among an era-defining generation of young female surfers, changing the nature of the sport, just as her father helped forge the aerial surfing that is now commonplace on the WSL. 'To see [Sierra] be at the forefront of that, the innovative surfing on the female side, it's been pretty amazing to watch,' Josh says. 'That's the most interesting thing in surfing right now – watching the development of the female side, watching them break down all those barriers.' His daughter's love of surfing has certainly proven fortuitous for Josh. 'She's basically my best friend, my partner in crime,' he says. 'She's my jet ski partner when the waves come good, she's a great ski driver [surfers use jet-skis to be towed into waves in big conditions].' At some point, once Sierra is firmly established on the WSL, she might want more independence than the father-coach combo offers. Josh, for his part, talks of retirement to a yacht and occasional visits from his high-flying daughter. But for now, the Kerrs remain inseparable. 'Dad always says until I kick him out, he'll be there,' Sierra says. Come the Challenger series, Kerr senior will be there competing alongside his daughter. The past, present and future of surfing, in one father-daughter duo.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aussie surfing duo dumped from El Salvador Pro
Australians Sally Fitzgibbons and Liam O'Brien have come up short in the elimination round at the World Surf League's event in El Salvador. But there was better news for compatriot Ryan Callinan, who progressed out of Heat 2 in the Punta Roca water on Friday. A day after top-ranked Aussies Ethan Ewing and Molly Picklum recorded opening-round wins on the fourth stop of the championship tour, veteran Fitzgibbons struggled in three-to-four-foot waves and missed her chance to progress to the round of 16. After American Sawyer Lindblad took out Heat 1, world No.16 Fitzgibbons could only muster wave scores of 5.50 and 4.50 to finish third in Heat 2, behind Brazil's Luana Silva (13.00), the 2024 world junior champion, and event wildcard Alyssa Spencer (11.33) of the US. "This wave has so many factors, the heat, the rocks, the sun in your face," said Silva. "7am, that sun's straight in your face, and it's really hard to navigate the waves with the sun directly in your face. I was trying to feel the wave, and just try to open up as much as I can." World No.17 O'Brien also finished a disappointing third in the men's second heat, his best two-wave score totalling 10.33, behind Southern California's Levi Slawson (13.10) and Alejo Muniz (11.47) of Brazil. first CT event and first CT heat win ✅Levi takes on Ethan in R/32 Heat 5 nextThe @surfcity #ElSalvadorPro is LIVE. Tune in at — World Surf League (@wsl) April 4, 2025 Through to the round of 32 though is world No.29 Callinan, who was second in Heat 4 behind 2022 rookie of the year Samuel Pupo. The Brazilian enjoyed his highest score of the season, bettering the 32-year-old from Newcastle 14.07 to 13.07. Local wildcard Bryan Perez (14.13) showed his knowledge and power at his home break to win Heat 1 and advance alongside Pupo's older brother Miguel. "I just wanna have fun in the water. Just enjoy my time, catch the wave, and have fun, just letting go of everything," said Perez. "I'm here with my family, with my coach, with the people that come to the city to support me. It's beautiful to see."
