WSL commentator and Lineup co-host Mitchell Salazar is back again to recap the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Presented by Bonsoy. Mitch and Dave marvel at the performances of the finalists all around, the historic win of Cole Houshmand as a goofy-footed Rookie at Bells, and Caity Simmers’ clutch performance. They choose their biggest winners and losers from the Championship Tour’s longest running event in Bells Beach, answer fan questions from the Instagram mailbag, and give an update on the 2024 Vissla CT Shaper Rankings.#wsl
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[Music]
all right we are back with the lineup
podcast I am Dave pran I’m here with my
part-time co-host for this season Mitch
Salazar although feels a bit more like
parttime this year as you featured in
more than half of The Season’s episode
so far more Mitch the better in my
opinion in any event a lot has been
happening we wrapped ct4 the Rip Curl
pro Bells Beach won by tour sophomore
ktie simmers and 2024 rookie Cole hman
we’re going to dig into that lost
surfboards and Matt biolis the defending
CT shaper of the year have regained the
lead on the 2024 Visa CT shaper rankings
we are approaching ct5 the Western
Australian Margaret River Pro the cut
relegation after which the CT men’s and
women’s Fields will be sharpened by
one-third heading into the back half of
the Season we are gearing up for the
2024 Challenger series season where an
international field of upand comers will
answer the question of who is next as
they VI for a spot on the 2025 WL
Championship tour and Mitch you
personally you’re coming off of a
weekend where you were on the commentary
tools at the qs300 Jack surfboards pro
at Huntington Beach so that’s a great
place to start uh thank you for that
work over the weekend because it really
helps for the podcast but you had a
firsthand look at who is going to be
competing on the upcoming Challenger
series season which starts next month
what’ you think who looked good oh it’s
just amazing to be able to work
different levels of you know both the CT
The Challengers and even the regional
qss too Dave um you know just really
fortunate to be able to be in this
position and to inform a lot of people
on upcoming Surfers not only throughout
my region but throughout the entire
world really impressed alen Cleveland
he’s made the semis at that event two
years in a row he just qualified for the
Challenger series based off of last
season Nat young L great Koh Andino he
got the injury wall card for the
challengers he’s going to be competing
at Snapper and Sydney to start the year
on the women’s side leani mcgonagle
Pinkerton took out the event Zoe
benedetto Luca ms’s back-to-back wins he
went in Barbados a few weeks ago took
out his first major win in Huntington
this weekend at the Jack pro uh but just
based off of
internationally on the women’s side
really excited to see Aaron Brooks
compete and really give her you know a
full shot of qualifying this year she
finished number nine so remember five or
six to 10 excuse me on the women’s
Challenger Series rankings from last
year are able to get an automatic spot
onto the Challenger Series for this year
vajina Fierro from France she’s going to
be competing as well I like her odds of
qualifying she’s been really close Nadar
poting out Dave she only competed in
four events last year and she was really
close to qualifying for the championship
tour the bass Surfer you have Bronto
McCall right there we’re going to have
keik of aelo Ellie Harrison who did
great as a wild card at Bells and on the
men’s side I’m really excited to see the
young cppa surfers we saw what George
patar could do on the challengers last
year did Super well at Bells you have
Alistar reinado Joe vaugh who I think is
a future CT Ser for myself Jackson Bunch
runner up to the world junior title you
got jet Shilling in there too and of
course can’t forget about the Brazilians
you have Mato SD Michael Rodriguez
Jackson Baker in there Marco Mino who
was also a few Heats away from
qualifying last year I think the
challengers to me Dave um is a huge
platform not only to qualify obviously
but most importantly just get your name
out there you can have one really good
event like no reposa had last year in
bolo as a wild card next thing you know
really close to qualifying getting wild
cards through the rest of the season so
really exciting to see uh what’s going
to happen over there at Snapper rocks
and Sydney to start off the season on
the Cs absolutely and as you said you
know the Jack surf boards Pro Huntington
Beach it’s a it’s a third tier right
it’s a regional qualifying series they
move up to the Challenger Series all
with the intention of making it to the
show The Elite level the dream tour the
championship tour we’re coming off of
ct4 the Rip Curl pro Bells Beach and now
it’s time for winners and losers so
Mitch who is your first loser from Bells
Beach this season yeah unfortunately it
has to go to India Robinson you know I I
know what it’s like to compete at home
and I know what it’s like to lose at
home too and just a lot of pressure on
her shoulder she’s number 16 in the
rankings right now Dave she was really
needing a result there competed in the
back end of day number one few uh few
Heats to finish the day and she was
really competing in difficult conditions
and struggled just to find a backup
score was in the ER competed in the
first heat of day two at winky Pop I was
never able to really get things going
over there so back of the line really
for her number 16 but in her defense she
did win the Challenger Series last year
I feel like she’s going to be relegated
there one at Snapper Rock So potentially
going to see her on the challengers but
um you know wishing the the best over
there in West Oz and I think you know if
she has a chance of winning the whole
event there is a possibility of her
requalifying through the CT just with
that one big result they’ve it’s a good
one and and as we talked about like this
sport is all about leveling up you can
level up from the Qs to the Cs the Cs to
the CT maybe you don’t make the
relegation the first or second or third
time but you come back down maybe you in
and even the very best Surfers even the
world Champs who we we hold it kind of
the highest platform of the sport
they’re constantly evolving and getting
better so it’s a great point about India
she won the Cs last year didn’t go well
for her at hopefully it goes better in
wa but it’s not the end of the world if
she doesn’t re-qualify she ends up on
the Cs and she’ll continue to evolve
similar conversation uh for mine I think
you know the stakes of the season and
where we’re at in the calendar being
what they are my first loser coming out
of bells is the collective of surfers
who are hovering around that cut line
now let’s be clear I’m not calling them
losers as individuals or even the
collective based on their ability or
character performances Etc what I am
saying is that psychologically speaking
if you’re coming out of bells in
proximity to the dreaded 23rd or 11th
spots on the men’s and women’s rankings
respectively then you’re really feeling
the heat in Margaret River you got Cade
Matson Seth mon the poopo brothers and
even Surfers like Ian Gentile Ramsey
bkim and three-time World Champion
Gabriel Medina who are just above the
cut line Y lot of nerves and then on the
women’s side you’ve got Lakey Peterson
and Sawyer lindblad and Isabella Nichols
and others who have some ground to make
up I’d imagine it it’s going to be
really nerve-wracking but at the same
time as we’ve seen the last few seasons
the performance levels continue to
elevate when when there are Stakes on
the lines at any points of the season
and for the last few years in Margaret
River we’ve seen some incredible
performances so I’m really looking
forward to it yeah and just to touch on
your point right there I mean if you
look at the people especially on the
men’s side that are just below the cut
line there’s really only a few rookies
and most of the Surfers that are below
the cut line are actually veterans Seth
mon Sam and Miguel Jake Wilcox is a
rookie but I mean he’s heading home to
Margaret River and could easily have his
best event of the Season Fred Moray
right there Caillou belli who has been a
great Surfer every single stop of the
first five events that we have on the
calendar but not this year though he’s
had major struggles to make it out of
the round of 32 and really needing a big
result here in wa to make it past that
cut line Eli hanaman he hasn’t been able
to make it out of that round down to 32
either David Silva do want to point out
Kelly looked way better than I thought
over at Bells and you know I just think
he was a victim of bad luck in that Heat
against bar mamia wasn’t really able to
get a backup score afterwards but you
know It’s just tough you only have five
events they’re really really difficult
venues to compete at the first five ones
too and then you go into Margaret River
where really it’s a few people that are
dominant over there you look at JN
John’s resume doza’s W there Jack
Robinson beat JN John in a really tight
final a few years ago that’s going to be
a tough venue for a lot of these rookies
but I do feel like Jacob Willcox has
something to prove at home watch out for
him and now getting into my second loser
here Dave it’s really shorter boards at
the bells Bowl um I personally feel like
if you look at the two winners Cole hman
Caitlyn simmers they were riding larger
boards on a day that wasn’t necessarily
huge out there at the bells Bowl but it
just accentuated and kind of prolonged
they’re surfing a bit more on those
longer walls I truly feel like you want
to be riding something they usually
going to be seeing out at Sunset Beach
and at wa a lot more here at the bells
Bowl where in comparison at winky look
at the board that Sam was riding that
had huge performances on his behalf in
order to get his best result this season
a carbon vacuum board by JS industries
that looked incredible in shorter waves
smaller waves though where it’s more
high performance surfing at the bells
Bowl still wanting a little bit more of
length and Dave I feel like that’s kind
of be going to be the recipe for Success
leading forward especially with the
victories of both Cole and Caitlyn here
I love that take um for my second loser
from the rip c pro Bell Beach I’m going
to go with Easter and uh for fans that
are unaware the the Bells Beach CT event
is the longest running surf event on the
planet starting all the way back in 1962
well before Rip Curl and and also well
before the IPS ASP WSL Championship tour
came along yeah originally it was uh
build as the Easter Classic and you know
that tradition definitely has its merits
for both Surfers and surf fans in
Australia it’s an awesome holiday it’s
an awesome Gathering of the tribe but
the pain in the ass about Easter and I
am tempted to quote the great Eddie
isard’s take on Easter originally being
a pagan holiday before the Christians
took it but we’ll abstain from that but
the pain in the ass about Easter is that
it moves dates every year and while we
know that swell Cycles are hardly you
know hardly follow kind of black and
white rules Bells Beach traditionally
has better surf later in their Autumn uh
coming out of summer so when Easter
falls later in the calendar year like in
late April we generally see better surf
through the competition window when it
falls earlier in the calendar like it
did this year we sometimes struggle now
opening day this year was awesome
conditions as some of the most rippable
Bells Beach I think I’ve ever seen y but
then it became pretty challenging after
that the world’s best Surfers were
impressive as they always are but yeah
Easter takes the second loss for me
coming out of bell Beach well it’s a
good take I mean you want it to be
colder there you’re seeing a lot of
people wear spring suits and short
sleeves that doesn’t necessarily mean
that those late swells have come through
during that period of the year and
unfortunately for us yeah as you were
saying first of all conditions were
really hard but most importantly the
swell consistency wasn’t necessarily
there either and despite us having three
great events to start the season before
Bells this wasn’t necessarily the one
that stood out so far out of the first
four events of the year it’s a good pick
Dave and uh my last loser has to be the
top of the pack on the women’s side you
have Betty laku Johnson who’s coming off
of the best Trio event she’s had to
start off for season and then Molly Pam
who was leading the rankings even after
an early round loss over in Portugal now
Caitlyn simmer is the leader and Joan de
feay very close in second place so you
don’t want to lose that positioning in
the top two spots if you’re either Betty
Lou or Molly and as of right now they’ve
dropped down a little bit I really like
Joan de fe’s odds to win the event at
Margaret River too she’s been on a rooll
two finals consecutive for her and
Caitlyn simmers recovered after a couple
early X’s at both Sunset Beach and
Portugal Dave so now Betty Lou and Molly
they have a lot to pick up from
here same brain I had both Molly and
Betty Lou as well as my my final Loser
coming out of bells I really don’t have
much more to add you know they both had
incredible starts to the season and
bells seemed like an opportunity for
them to consolidate those positions
heading into wa yeah that didn’t happen
so we’ll see if that was a blip on their
season or or something more severe over
the next few events I loved what you
said about about Betty Lou having good
performances in wa I think over the
course of my career here I’ve noticed
the Hawaiians typically do really really
well in wa is that is that your take as
well Mitch and if so why do you think
that is for sure heavy Waves open water
and most importantly you’re usually
surfing with longer boards at main break
too but say the event does get changed
to the box which I’m kind of crossing my
fingers for for at least a day or two
but that’s another heavy wave where a
lot of these people have experience at
these slabs or heavy Reef breaks
including Saka she’s putting a lot of
time outside of the Jersey right there
and I think I could even say the same
for Molly Pam but watch out e colani
devault Eli hanaman should have a great
event over there in wa especially if
we’re running out the box can’t forget
about the best out there to ever do it
John John Florence and of course on the
women’s side big to Gabrielle Brien she
made it into finals day over there at
Bells she also has a big chance to get
her first CT victory in Western
Australia where she’s been a runner up
before Dave should be a real fun event
but as you said Hawaiians usually are
very dominant there um getting into our
winners now Janda feay has to be my
first back-to-back finals as I said
before but most importantly just keeping
consistency where she tends to be a
slower starter than most in the first
few events of the season season that’s
not the case this year Dave up to number
two in the world and remember outside of
last year due to injuries in the first
few events of the Season there hasn’t
been a year outside of 2023 where she
hadn’t finished in the top 10 this is
her 11th year on tour now we’re talking
about one of the most consistent Surfers
on the planet and she had made the
finals in two different occasions in 21
and 22 this could easily be the best
year for the European Surfer and could
have been the first year European Bells
title we had there over Easter weekend
at the bells bow I’m so glad you brought
Joanne up because actually one of our
listeners reached out um on on our
Instagram page at the lineup pod and
asked the question I’m responded to them
this morning about why why is Jang defay
not really considered a World title
Threat by by the broader surfing
industrial complex and and I thought it
was a great take and I and I
responded mean she said the same thing
she’s been on tour for 11 years almost
immediately she stood out to me as
someone who had very few weaknesses she
was strong stylish really good on her
forehand fantastic on her backhand and
especially backhand tubes like Fiji and
Tahiti um and really the only reason I
could I could come up with is she comes
from a non-traditional geographic
location for for women’s world title
threats right she’s from Reunion Island
she didn’t have the same kind of hype
she didn’t have the same kind of
marketing sponsorship early on in her
career where that kind of sat in
everyone’s brains from fans to sponsors
to Media as oh yeah we need to watch her
but I think she has all the tools I
think she’s surfing better than she has
in her entire career on the CT and I
think she’s 100% a threat is there any
other reason that you would kind of
point out that maybe people don’t
consider Joan a world title threat well
it’s a good reason you bring up Reunion
Island because if you look at Jeremy
Flores he’s from the same place but what
Jeremy did differently than Joanne he
had a sponsor opportun sponsor ship
opportunity excuse me with Quicksilver
where at a young age he traveled outside
of reunion enough to be able to maintain
a location in Australia and in Mainland
France to be able to gain more exposure
and eventually just have to relocate to
one of those two places for the majority
of the Year where Joanne didn’t really
have that until her late teens way into
her Junior career and by then she had
already qualified for the championship
tour so you hadn’t had that major
exposure before you qualified Jeremy had
and I think it’s an excellent point you
bring up because geographically does
represent France but is from a French
territory though and you see that a lot
with a lot of Caribbean Surfers too
Charlie Martin he was originally from
the French Caribbean Jean du’s partner
as well Mar L car and you look at Jean’s
success as well he’s coming from
Mainland France and he qualified for the
championship tour with a lot of exposure
before but that doesn’t necessarily
guarantee that you’re going to have
success once you make it there so I like
the odds of Joan de feay at least making
the finals but I I truly agre she’s a
world championship Contender and could
easily be the first female European
Champion we’ve seen in a long time
Dave one more quick point on that little
known fact because he doesn’t like to
talk about it um without being asked but
Jeremy Flores who put in one of the most
heroic CT career performances of any
Surfer I’ve ever experienced he’s
everything was incredible he actually
sponsored Joanne out of his own pocket
for a few years back when she didn’t
have mainstream sponsorship support like
she does now so awesome guy in and out
of the water Jeremy Flores uh bit of a
tangent but my first winner from the Rip
Curl pro Bells Beach and this has been a
bit of a theme this year since we are
experiencing one of the more
generational shifts at the elite level
of competition in recent memory but
winner number one for me is the youth we
we obviously have Katie and Cole as the
victors of the event but on the men’s
side Jake Marshall quarterfinals finish
and now fourth in the world Crosby
colapinto very impressive Rio waa
semi-finals finish and vaults up 10
places on the CT rankings Matthew
mcgilvery semi-finals finish and now
well underneath the cut line or above
whichever where we’re looking safe
heading into Margaret River um and then
on the women’s side you had Caroline
marks and Bria Hennessy both in the
semi-finals and lineup podcast
unofficial team Rider Gabby bran with a
quarterfinals finish and moving uh into
the safe zone of the cut line heading
into the final event the opportunities
were there and a number of next
generation Talent took them at Bells
which I think is a really nice contrast
when you see the youths performing at
the longest running event on the planet
100% And one of the most difficult
venues I’d have to say on the
championship tour and just outside of
that on the planet as well but you know
I have a similar second winner and it’s
actually The Californians Caitlyn
simmers Cole hosman the two Champions
you also have Griff and kapenta who is
still leading the rankings by the way
but want to give major props to Jake
Marshall we talked about it in our group
chat quite a bit he is looking fantastic
this year and I’m really excited to see
him in the top 10 really getting the
spotlight that he deserves right now I
feel like Western Australia should also
be a good event for him he did suffer
you know being a victim of the cut last
season that won’t be the case this year
so major props to Jake he’s already done
one better than last season we’ll have a
chance to compete in Fiji at the end of
the year too could easily make it into
the top 10 to finish off the year two
Kate Matson gets his best result in a
big moment against John John Florence
too where JN had the highest score of
the Heat unfortunately for John the
ocean just went quiet after that and
Kate had a couple of scores underneath
his belt want to say big thank you and
congratulations to what Sor limot has
been able to do for the young rookies on
tour as well remember there aren’t many
of them only Alysa Spencer and S limbad
really the two Californians that have
made it on tour for the last several
years on the women’s side and I feel
like Sawyer has an amazing chance to do
well in Margaret River and make the cut
before that event finishes and do want
to give big props to um Cole hman Too
for his victory you know after that one
Heat against Gabe he just went on a roll
and look at who he had to defeat to make
it into the final and then he beat the
number one in the rankings afterwards
and one of the few goofy Footers who’s
been a champ at Bells Beach Cole hman
doing good things at stop number four
gets his first win as a rookie too it’s
interesting like I think both both our
points are pretty similar right all The
Californians you met mentioned are on
the younger side as well M and there are
venues on tour that historically have
favored experience in veterans right
whether it’s pipeline or Jeff Bay and
Bell’s Beach is maybe the one where over
the decades it is you might be young and
fresh and have like amazing potential
and amazing ability but if you haven’t
put the time in out of bells it’s going
to gobble you up compared to the people
who have that doesn’t seem to be the
case as much anymore it feels like these
younger surf are so much more prepared
Cole had a last minute um clutch wave
against Gaye Medina Kade had his against
JN John like like these are these are
now becoming kind of the the the feature
instead of the bug with these younger
Surfers where in the past more often
than not these younger Surfers would
have melted down have you noticed that
too or am I am I making things up no
it’s a pattern but it has to happen
though cuz if you’re a lower seated
Surfer the only way you’re making it is
by having to to defeat the people that
are at the top of the pack you see that
in tennis you see that in basketball
with seating in the playoffs too you see
that in baseball as well and I think in
surfing it being such a subjective sport
as we saw at this event you know all
that uh controversy surrounding the one
heat between Cole and Gabe you need to
leave that out of your mind so you can’t
take that into your next seat and I felt
like Cole was so decisive with his
victory he said hey I’m comfortable with
the way I’m competing if I can do it
against a three-time world champion I
can do it against anybody else and he
beat his mentor one of his best friends
in the final to leave that aside too
Dave is a major thing that he had to
overcome and he ended up getting his
first Victory and as a rookie at Bells
there have been very few few people that
have been able to win a bell as a goofy
footer and none have been able to do it
as both a goofy and as a rookie in the
same year it’s pretty cool well my
second winner um a theme today but this
is maybe an unlikely one but I’m going
to go with Bell’s Wild Card George patar
as my second winner from Bells now to be
clear George did finish equal 17th
losing to Ethan Ying in the round of 32
that said I thought George was surfing
so well in all of his Heats and for sure
there was an online dust up about
whether you know Ethan Ying the
defending event winner and one of the
best Bells Beach servers of all time got
the score that he needed on the final
wave of his match with George George’s
um everyone’s respective Echo chamber
may vary right but it seems like it was
kind of split 50/50 in my personal one
um and George to his credit when he was
asked about this on broadcast the
following day man he was gracious and
funny and humble and saying that when he
came in you know his phone had blown up
over it and then he watched the heat
back on the analyzer and he was like
look I thought Ethan got the score
before praising Ethan as really the
standard out there that he looks up to
um so really classy uh from George and
in addition to his surfing I think that
endeared him to a lot of people um and
even more so to my myself because I was
already a fan having first notice George
um at the 2023 Challenger Series event
at Snapper rocks and I actually uh
messaged my good friend and now very
worthy CEO of rip CR Brook Ferris about
this I’m like wow this kid’s really good
where’d he come from and you know fast
forward a year he’s surfing even better
it seems like he’s got a a good head on
his shoulders which is what we were just
kind of talking about and and I’m I’m
really looking forward to seeing how
George goes in the Challenger Series
event so am I I mean he did great last
year in his rookie year too and um
actually looking at his results he did
finish within the top 20 number 19 got a
fifth at the US Open which ended up
being his best results so he
automatically requalified for the
Challenger Series just by being within
the top 20 major props toar I’m a huge
fan of his style I think it’s the thing
that really stands out the most but he’s
just kind of Sparky you know always
finishes his turns with a little extra
sauce and I think is going to have a
great start over there at snap bar Rock
and it’s a good pick it I think uh to
clarify to listeners our winners and our
losers don’t necessarily always have to
be people that end up in last place or
end up winning the comp like it can just
be Bing podcast if that’s the case yeah
exactly I mean it’s something that
you’ve already seen on the broadcast so
we’re always going to try to mix it up
here and uh my final winner Dave uh you
mentioned them briefly before but it’s
the dark horses in on finals day and
Matt mcgil he had to overcome his good
friend Morgan siick and you know earlier
rounds I thought he served great made it
into the semis which is his best result
to the DAT and as of right now sitting
number 14 he is way above the cut line
pretty much guaranteed to re-qualify for
the rest of the year same thing to Rio
yaa number 11 on the rankings now coming
off of backto back uh good appearances
both in Portugal and in Bells gets a
semi-final finish which at the moment is
his best result today too number 11 in
the rankings and the first Indonesian to
qualify for the championship tour which
is just absurd by even saying it out
loud again but the market that it opens
for Asia having both Canoa and real we
on the championship tour need to get a
CT back in Asia once again it needs to
be an indo or Japan I feel but having
these two guys on the championship tour
is huge for us and I feel really opens
up the possibility to get more Surfers
from that region engaged in both the
world surf league and in terms of
qualifying eventually for the
championship tour as well great pick
great pick and um well just before that
we we mentioned that our winners and
losers are not always correlated to
their performances and their results at
these events sometimes they’re more
subjective oftentimes they’re more
subjective sometimes they do relate and
my final winner we’ve mentioned it a
couple times but it’s Cole hman and and
yes he won Bell’s Beach but my God you
know the the S CL manyy power broker we
had him on the lineup just before the
season started and you and I we both had
pretty big calls in terms of his CT
level expectations this season on the
strength of of his strengths um and
despite looking good in free surface and
frankly he looked pretty good in his
Heats too the results didn’t come his
way and he was well outside the cut line
at 26th heading into Bell’s Beach dead
last in his opening round heat he
survives barely a nasty elimination
round heat and then he bests three-time
world champion Gabriel Medina in the
round of 32 Keno igarashi Ethan Ying
Matthew mcgil and Griffin colapinto to
ring the bell as a rookie Vault up 18
positions I don’t think that’s happened
before um at this point in the season 18
positions on the CT rankings and it was
incredible he is a huge winner from
Bells both inside and outside of the
water so congrats to him well and you
brought up a major Point too he looked
good in free surfs he had a couple waves
in competition that looked great came
off of a good result in Portugal in
ninth place which at that point had been
his best result but lost to Crosby in a
heat where he looked like he should have
been winning Crosby eventually made it
into the semifinals and now the tables
flipped in this event here he had to
take out the who’s who of professional
surfing three-time World Champ Medina as
he said Canoa who had been a number one
in the world heading into this event a
few years ago too Ethan Ying defending
Champion Matt McGill who hadn’t lost a
single ke and then his good friend
mentor and leader of the rankings
Griffin in the final I don’t think
there’s been a single event where
rookies had to go through a murderous
row of people in order to win his first
CT championship and at a venue where few
goofy Footers have won and especially in
the last few years having Wilco and nalo
win this is a major feather in his cap
when you’re looking at some of the
greatest goofy foots to ever do it
including gawy in the late ‘ 90s to when
they’re at Bell’s Beach yeah the only
way it would have been harder is this
this was like The Hunger Games and the
villains were like just kidding now you
got to Surf against Mick just kidding
now you got to serf against oy like it
was a crazy crazy field he had to mow
down so congrats to all of our winners
coming from the ri c pro Bells Beach
we’re going to take a quick break to get
a word in from our sponsors and we’ll be
right
back all right we are back this is the
lineup podcast I’m Dave pran here with
Mitch Salazar and now it is time for the
Visa CT shaper rankings update shaper
ranking uh background for our listeners
in case they’re unaware Shapers are
given points based off the performances
of surfers riding their boards that
finish in the quarterfinals or better it
is a combined rankings men’s and women’s
the higher the surfer places the more
points that shaper receives we’ll be
tracking the Visa C shaper rankings from
event one through event 9 this season
and Crown a winner before the WSL finals
in September so when the dust had
settled on the Vista C shaper rankings
post Rip Curl pro Bell’s Beach it was
defending CT shaper of the Year Matt
biolis and the lost surfboards program
retaking the number one position they
had a record setting six results out of
a possible 16 at Bells Beach including
both men’s finalists in Griffin
colapinto and event winner cole hman
really really impressive uh that said
sharpy surfboards collected Five results
of their own yeah including women’s
runnerup Joan defay who is currently as
you mentioned second in the world
following back-to-back finals early in
the season of course but lost and sharpy
they are creating the Contours of a two
horse race at the moment Mitch what
stood out to you on the 2024 Visa CT
shaper rankings from the rip crl Pro
Bell Beach well first of all I didn’t
know it was record setting until you
said it right there that’s crazy that
they got six people into the quarters
are better both men and women combined
uh you know I think it comes down to
having a really good women’s team and I
feel like Gabriel Brian Caroline marks
they are huge for Mayhem right now if
they’re able to get S limot into a bit
more of a role here especially adding
Margaret River and get her into the
quarters or better that’s going to be
major for them not a huge amount of
separation between sharpy in second and
lost in the lead just over 3,000 points
but then you look at second and third
I mean just over 41,000 points
separating Sharpie and Channel Islands
that’s massive right there so CI they
definitely have a lot more work to do
Baron mamia hasn’t really been able to
get any good results after the event at
pipeline but then you look at DHD also
bowing out kind of early where most of
their Surfers you need Conor earier to
step up you need Ethan to start winning
or I mean I know it’s hard to win events
but at least make the semifinals luckily
for them he did make it into finals day
over there but what I will say is that
one thing that really stands out to me
is that we’re seeing somebody like
Caitlyn simmer still opt to Surf with
Chris Bor designs and he’s already had
two wins this year not going to be
catapulting himself into the top five
conversation just by only having one
Surfer but I think this is something
that we’re probably going to see with
Caitlyn in the future we see it with
Gabe we’re seeing it with simmers right
now I just think there’s such a personal
relationship and given the conversations
that we had during the offseason Dave
about somebody signing Caitlyn
somebody’s on the verge of signing Betty
lucak with at Johnson it seems like it’s
either going to be pisel or Chanel
Islands but as of right now I just feel
like Caitlyn’s so comfortable with Chris
and their personal intimate relationship
knowing that that’s been going on for
more than a decade now and she’s still
only 18 years old so I don’t really see
that changing right now it just seems to
be like there’s too much success and on
the men’s side same thing’s going to
happen for for Gabe and Johnny kabanka I
don’t see that relationship dipping out
at any point and I just feel like it’s
going to continue to grow and maybe even
start happening a little bit more in the
championship tour I wouldn’t be
surprised to see certain Surfers opt to
select a local shaper and not a big
brand super interesting you know and I
you mentioned DHD you know Darren
hanley’s one of the world’s best
surfboard Shapers has so many world
titles to his name from the likes of
Mick Fanny Stephanie
Gilmore I thought we were going to see a
bit more juice from DHD at Bells and I’m
sure he did too right you know they have
a very strong team I think this was an
opportunity for them to to make up a bit
of ground on home soil I’m sure they’re
thinking the same thing in wa it’s
really interesting right and some of
these programs in
2024 have certainly been dealt some
blows right you look at like the sharpy
men’s program is doing the season
without Felipe Toledo like if Felipe on
tour it could be a very different story
right DHD you know eight-time world
champion Stephanie Gilmore she’s taking
year off she’ll be back in
2025 awesome Bell Surfer that’s another
one that that they would they would use
to to sort of buoy buoy the roster y but
then you look at a program like lost
surfboards Carissa Moore stepping away
uh indefinitely from competitive surfing
she was a huge performer um and earner
for that program they’re number one in
the world right and so it’s interesting
when you look at these programs and how
they were able to successfully backfill
or if they’re having bad luck or if
they’re putting all their eggs in one
particular generational basket it’s
interesting to see them them them deal W
with with attrition on their teams I
think Bells is a particular wave to
where certain people always kind of rise
to the occasion we saw Courtney conlog
with stamps you know succeed there three
different times in different kinds of
conditions when it was medium when it
was huge and then you had to Surf over
at win pop in smaller days and adjust
your equipment and I feel like that’s
kind of what helped out Caitlyn simmers
is that she was prepared to ride a
longer board at the bells Bowl she had
her normal shortboard quiver to ride at
winky pop and there were a couple Heats
where those in between kind of days over
at the bells bow you’re thinking to
yourself should I ride something longer
get into my waves easier and just draw
my turns a little bit longer or I do
want to surf in the pocket a little bit
more and make things a little bit more
high performance and explosive and when
you look at it this is a really
difficult venue to adjust in terms of
your equipment not not just because of
your boards but because of your fins too
Richie love it did a board breakdown
that I thought was super interesting
talking about the mick vanning fins
where Mick had been a former Champion
there on multiple different occasions
and that Fin’s kind of really suitable
for the wave I mean you look at it
larger template bigger outline and
something that really wants an openface
wave which is what we saw at the bells
bow now you go over to winky Pop I need
tighter transitions shorter turns but
most importantly making sure that when I
get to the lip there is some release so
that’s where you usually want to wear a
fin that’s uh more accentuated like
filipe’s one that FCS makes really well
you usually want to surf something like
a black stick model or maybe even uh the
new carbon uh core um fins that Future
Has and those are things where you look
at Cade you look at Cole all these guys
who bring different sets of fins
different sets of boards to be able to
adapt to these conditions exemplify on
their rookie season on the championship
tour which is really really hard to do I
mean you look at people who have been on
the Challenger Series for years on the
qualifying Series in different venues
and out traveling with at least two
board bags I’d say into Australia this
is a venue where you really need to
capitalize on the few opportunities that
you do have Dave absolutely you
mentioned that just now and that was one
of your points in the prior segment too
but can you expand a little bit more
just on the Surfers riding longer boards
at boards at Bells you know what is the
advantage like is this a new trend that
we’ve seen in recent years obviously it
was the case you know a few decades ago
and do you anticipate that the longer
board phenomenon phenomenon the longer
board trend is going to a phenomenon H
is going to continue uh at at Margaret
River well it it is kind of crazy to
think about it though because Kelly
changed the game for Better or For Worse
I would say remember 2008 was uh he
brought out that shorter board I think
it was a 510 at pipe ended up winning
the event over Chris Ward who was riding
at least something you know a foot
bigger than that I personally feel like
it’s the right decision to do um you’re
standing out and you’re doing something
different and really that’s the whole
thing that you need to do in a
competitive sport where it’s usually
one-on-one Heats right in order to be
able to be a little bit different or
have a little different sense of
emphasis on certain Maneuvers to me
personally not only do you get into
waves earlier but most importantly
you’re drawing different lines so
especially for a goofy footer over at
Margaret River we’ve seen Ryan kalinin
bring out some bigger boards he’s had a
near perfect ride over there I think
that’s going to continue to be a trend
unless it’s truly small up main break or
unless we’re seeing something out the
box where you just need to be under the
lip to make the drop so to me personally
I think at certain venues Tahiti maybe
at the box it’s not necessary even at
Fiji on the smaller days you could
easily get away with just riding a
shortboard the bells Sunset Margaret
River I would say even cloudbreak and
restaurants when it’s bigger you need to
be riding a bigger board in order be
successful out there I’m glad you
brought that up because it’s something
that I’m I bring up pretty regularly on
the podcast I wouldn’t say every episode
maybe every other but you know that idea
that you bring up around creating a
point of difference in your surfing
whether that’s an approach or a
physicality or even an equipment um in
certain venues right like you brought up
the Kelly on The Deep 6 in 2008 you know
shorter stubbier wide point forward
board for surfing a wave like Pipeline
and I think that we’ve seen Surfers use
quads you know I think Hollow waves and
slaber waves like that the point is how
deep can I take off how how deep can I
stuff myself in the barrel how do I
maximize the critical components of that
and for sure I think there’ll always be
design tinkering and approach tinkering
and how you do it but it’s it’s I won’t
say it’s one-dimensional but as the one
thing that you’re doing on that wave
right is is maximizing the critical
components of the ride it waves like a
Bell’s Beach where there is more of a
canvas or lower trestles where there is
more of a canvas it is interesting that
we haven’t seen an even more radical
experimentation with board design um
from the world’s best Surfers right and
I could appreciate it in a beach break
it’s like hey I’m I’m looking to
maximize the the vertical approach of my
surfing I I I need a Thruster I need
Ferrari board Etc but if you’re trying
to stand out or even surf Ranch another
good example of this right where the the
canvas is pretty consistent it’s pretty
rare that we see Surfers use radically
different equipment I mean Dane Reynolds
used the original dumpster diver in the
finals against MC Fanning um it was
around 2010 you know he also used the
the underrated and unheralded um really
but the meric twin Finn alter the mtfa
uh against Roy powers in round three at
SOS in France which I felt was a
transformative experience we mentioned
Kelly but we don’t really see like
fishes or or two plus ones or or really
actually no I’ll back up we have seen
even Felipe Toledo obviously right his
carbon based quad out at lowers to win a
world title but it’s pretty rare and and
do you see that changing from the
world’s best servers moving forward
would we see someone take out like a two
plus one performance fish anywhere in
the future and not do it to relax
themselves and not do it as a bit but to
go no I feel like I have a legitimate
competitive advantage using this
equipment I don’t see why not I mean
personally I just I don’t think anybody
should be opposed to that kind of idea I
don’t think you should have a closed
mindset especially a a professional
athlete to be able to do that in a
competitive sense you know because once
again it just brings up a point of
difference and it’s a subjective sport
where something’s always somebody’s just
always looking for something a little
bit different for you to stand out in
order to make sure that you’re actually
beating this person based off of the
criteria that they’re judging you of um
they don’t necessarily have a criteria
based on the equipment that you can ride
as long as it’s a shortboard you’re
going to be able to ride it in this
contest it’s not like it’s a
longboarding event where it has to be a
certain weight a certain length has to
weigh uh a certain amount either you can
ride anything you want here and actually
it’s a good point that you bring up with
Dane Reynolds and the and the twin fin
over there I remember that that he
clearly because he had a sick backside
air that was more of a straight air and
Roy Powers just had no answer for that I
mean his scores weren’t breaking the
fives Dane had a nine and an eight I
think and he hadn’t comboed in like the
first 10 minutes now you go into the
final against Mick what was the big
point of difference right there Mick
riding a little bit of a normal board
high performance and Dane just didn’t
have an answer with his dumpster diver
at that point even if it was a little
bit smaller so they were appreciating
mix surfing more on the equipment that
he was riding rather than what Dan
now the point that you bring about the
barrels I think is a perfect case of
quad setups or different fin setups and
not necessarily the length because depth
is what you’re looking for and
especially with a shorter board if your
nose isn’t being seen and it’s a couple
inches shorter that’s actually
beneficial to you as well so the less
the board is seen it means the deeper
you are and I think you’re usually going
to see that at venues like the box I
think Tahiti you’re going to see it a
lot more and especially with a guy like
John John Florence who tends to not ride
very large boards at pipeline either
even when it’s huge you’re going to see
it a lot with him so you know I think
these trends of larger boards at
performance waves like Margaret’s like
Sunset and like Belle should continue
but not necessarily at barreling waves
or even waves that’ll necessarily just
be slaber ones like even Tahiti you
don’t necessarily need something long to
get into the wave you just need to be
under the
lip it makes sense you know another
thing we should mention from the ripr
pro Bells Beach is
TNC surf you know helmed by Glenn Pang
they’re number five in the world on the
visista C shaper rankings and on the
strength of Bria Hennessy’s incredible
season so far but they are the lead
Hawaii based shaper uh on the rankings
right now and and five years ago three
years ago if we had had to guess who was
going to be in the mix they probably
wouldn’t have come up as our first
choice I think it’s really impressive
what they’ve done they also Sally Fitz
gibons on the program they they had a
lot of um non-team Riders but riding
their equipment you know at pipe and
Sunset Beach as well and it does feel
like there’s a lot of juice in that
program at the moment what do you think
about that I think it’s a a great pick I
mean you look at Mayhem leading the Vil
CT shaper rankings they have three men
in the top 10 and they have two women in
the top 10 Caroline and then Gabby
sitting right on the cut line right
there but once again small Shapers
they’re just having to compete with
teams that have much larger size and
most importantly people that are
succeeding at the very top too you look
at sharpy they’ve always had a very
dominant team especially with Felipe the
last few years as you were mentioning on
the men side Jake Marshall is standout
serf for this year he’s in the top 10
but I think Town and Country uh Glenn
Pang especially with the success that he
has over there in the Hawaiian Islands
he not he’s not necessarily preoccupied
about his success on the championship
tour outside having the two women that
are Bria and Sally right now because
most of his orders come specifically for
waves like Oahu like Maui like Kawaii
because that’s where his boards are
being used now he does have to put a
good amount of attention on the two
Surfers that he has on the championship
tour for obvious reasons but it’s not
like he’s needing the publicity because
most of his customers and his clientele
are based out of where he’s from so as
of right now I think he’s just very
proud of getting the publicity that he’s
getting through the visda CT shape of
rankings and I think the ress is just on
on the bigger Brands you mentioned
Darren Hanley they need Liam O’Brien to
be able to step up a little bit more
Connor oir had a down event on the
women’s side Isabella Nicholls she’s a
former champion of Margaret River she
needs to do well at the last event
before the cut line too in order to get
more points and I want to call out Jason
Stevenson too I think he’s had an
incredible off season he got both poopo
brothers really stoked for samon Miguel
they haven’t had good results to start
the season though Ramsay’s made the
quarters Ryan kalinin off to another
solid start to the season they need to
get more finals day appearances too it’s
a great Point um we’re heading to
Margaret river right and uh main break
is the the primary venue we mentioned
the box as the secondary venue even main
break has a number of different faces
and to the civilian eyes like mine
pretty radically different kind of waves
right you know main break on its day
versus The Box on its Day Mitch do you
need two different two two
radically different types of surfboards
to compete at each venue and do you
think the Surfers are are packing their
board bags that way that’s always a good
question this is
a a venue that I’m surprised that most
people don’t try to even look at the
left Dave I don’t know if if it’s just
me being a goofy or what not just you
and me watching the broadcast being like
there’s another one that’s all there’s
another one there’s another one I’ve
seen so many clips of events you know
’90s 2000s where the left was SC Bo well
and I see 95% of the people in the comp
only go right and I’m just tripping to
myself the whole time because I saw Yago
do a sick air on the left there during
one of the Heats a few years ago and he
got a counting score and I was like why
wouldn’t more people try to open up and
diversify their Surfing by presenting
some once again presenting something
different on a wave that normally isn’t
surfed in the comp I feel like more
people should go left it’s very swell
dependent obviously there to the right
tends to stand up more but it’s a real
short wave and unless you’re getting
something critical on the outside the
inside ain’t really counting that much
so in terms of equipment I feel like the
box at Margaret River you’re usually at
Main braks are you’re usually going to
ride something very similar unless once
it gets above 6 feet then you’re riding
something a little bit longer in terms
of the models though Mayhem you’re
probably riding your driver 3.0
something that really want a high
performance wave 77 I would think would
good work good there that’s a Filipe
model or one of them from sharpy and I
think if you’re want a TNC surf for
Sally or Bria this a wave that really
suits your style and the equipment that
you’re riding because it’s something
that that really resembles what you’re
going to see over in the Hawaiian
Islands I think that’s why both Tyler
Wright and John John Florence have had
major success there with pisel too
because it’s a wave that really suits
the boards that they’re bringing over to
West
Oz it’s a great Point well we’ll look
forward to the Western Australia
Margaret River Pro which is starting in
just a few days after this airs so get
your fantasy teams ready we’re going to
take another quick break to get our a
word in from our sponsors and when we
come back we will finish
up all right welcome back everybody to
the lineup podcast that’s Dave PR and I
Mitchell Salazar your part-time co-host
here at the world’s greatest surfing
podcast and as always if we don’t get to
your question today you can always write
us at the lineup pod and we’ll do our
best to respond in our DMS as we always
do but most most importantly Dave it’s
our favorite segment talking to our fans
and to our listeners the people that
really feel the fire for the Pod let’s
get into it our first one at AUST
2602 did Medina was right about the
judges I’m pretty sure he’s asking was
he right about the judging over there AB
Bells what do you got Dave right okay
good let’s start with the heater um but
yeah so so we mentioned it already right
so Cole hman beat Gabriel Med
last minute wave um you I watched the
heat then rewashed it on the heat
analyzer I am not a judge and and I
think it’s important to reiterate
because we brought this up on the
podcast before the broadcast does an
awesome job covering the sport we get
all these different angles we get
close-ups we get slow-mo it’s really
really good but we have to stress that
it’s not the live angle it’s not the
angle the Surfers are surfing at it’s
not the angle the judges are are are
judging at so there is a little bit of
separation between what we’re watching
on Broad versus what we’re seeing um
versus what people are seeing live that
said even watching it on the broadcast I
personally felt like Cole got the score
he needed on the final wave um and we
talked about before right everyone’s
Echo Chambers are unique and they’re
subjective and mine was about 50/50 you
know half the people thought Medina
should won the heat um based on the
strength of of his scoring rides the
other half felt like Cole had it um so
again it’s subjective everyone has their
own opinion about it I think it’s
interesting and this is backtack years
and as we talked about before we
recorded at the same exact venue where a
world champion last year it was Felipe
Toledo against Jackson Baker and this
year it was Gabriel Medina versus Cole
hman have gotten onto the steps moments
after the heat was finished and said the
score was wrong not having watched The
Wave not having watched the heat not
having um really taken time to do it so
um hey you know what like it is great
for team content but at the same time I
don’t know if it reflects that great on
the surfer to be like that Surfer
definitely didn’t get the score and I
know and it’s like but you don’t you
didn’t watch it so I don’t know I feel
like if I had to kind of go back to that
Echo chamber in piece since it’s
happened it feels like even more people
feel like Cole won the heat now that
might be a reasy bias because he kept
ripping all the way to ringing the bell
but yeah I I think Medina got that one
wrong about the judge is I don’t think
the sports perfect I don’t think the
officials are perfect I don’t think any
of us are but I don’t think he was right
about that result personally speaking if
I have to answer the question what about
you Mitch what did you think you know I
called it we’re doing the Spanish
broadcast now and I had the chance to to
work the event too and I call the heat
um you know watching it live I just felt
like the first combo that Cole did on
that wave was a a massive point of
difference than anything that we had
seen in the heat I know Gabe said during
his posted interview and I want to
clarify that I thought gab’s opinion on
the matter was not only super respectful
but I thought that he voiced his opinion
perfectly and um you know given that he
is in a little bit of a struggle in
terms of consistency of results and
maybe not getting his first Victory but
we all know he’s usually been a slow
starter in his whole career so it it’s
not necessarily A surprised we going
into an event where he won last year for
the first time in Margaret River but
you know I’m I’m 50502 and in the
judge’s defense as you said that’s not
necessarily the angle that they’re
seeing the whole time and it’s usually
your first opinion that’s the one that
you’re going to write as you score
anyway so you can watch replay as many
times as you want but front angle
anything in the moment especially in the
end of the Heat and the heat of moment
if it’s a wave that catches your eye and
you feel like the other Surfer already
surfed to the score you’re usually going
to give it to them um so I feel it’s
like it’s just one of those occasions
where Gabe had to control the heat he
could have and and and I’m just
speculating here he could have kept Cole
off of that wave right and we’re in a
sport just like any other combat sport
any sport where there’s subjectivity
involved there’s a criteria yes but that
doesn’t necessarily guarantee that
things are going to be perfect and I
need to make it very clear here not only
is this a sport where there’s a human
factor involved most importantly unless
you’re making things super clear and
leaving no doubt there will always be
something surrounding it where people
will have a difference of opinions in
the result we’ve seen that before I
don’t necessarily think that there’s
anything bad going on behind the scenes
which I think is really important to
address because on social media the day
of and the day after is pretty crazy and
like I’m I’m just here talking in
defense of the judges and the Surfers
it’s not Cole’s fault it’s not the
judge’s fault if you have the
opportunity to leave no doubt you need
to go ahead and do that remember we’re
talking about a world championship on
the line at the end of the year too so
this is a result that easily could have
been in his top five in the the first
half of the year and most importantly
ACC counting result for the world
championship too and your seating for
the finals well we’ve been talking about
this for a while too like I think for
both of us and it’s not just cuz we’re
goofy Footers but we truly believe that
Gabe is one of if not the best surfer on
the the planet um and since he took his
year off so this would have been we saw
him come back end of 2022 he wins the
Challenger Series event in saakar and
all kind of the back end of 2022 I think
we were watching him social media he
looked like goddamn Ivan Drago like he
was like training I’ve never seen
someone this strong on tour like ever
like he looks and to this day and he’s
been doing it ever since he looks so
strong and you combine that with the
talent and the pedigree and the
experience and the achievements and the
mental game and I think we’re like who
is going to beat this person ever and
the results haven’t been there for him
right and this year in particular I
think you can see the frustration boil
over you mentioned it perfectly I don’t
know if his opinion on the heat has
changed since he’s watched it a few
times I kind of doubt it but you can
imagine in the moment you’ve ripped
you’re beating this rookie you have
priority the clock is ticking down yeah
you let him have a wave where you go
he’s not getting the score and then he
gets the score and as we said not only
are things not going his way this year
he’s like 20th on the rankings he is at
risk of being relegated things are going
to boil over and and I think that’s for
someone like him as we said like he
should be unbeatable now at surfing
anything can happen I hope he I hope he
rebounds in wa he’s an incredible dude I
I desperately want to see him in the mix
come the end of the year for the world
title well and I think he’s important to
serving too I mean not just because of
the success that he’s had the doors that
he’s opened we’re talking about the
first Brazilian short poting Champion
which has huge given the great Surfers
that we had before him and the Surfers
that we have right now too and to
include him on the list of maybe outside
of Kelly Slater the greatest competitive
Surfer ever I mean I definitely put him
up there and and I think the most
important part about Gabe too is that
his personality has always been very
crucial to the championship tour I mean
inside the water outside of it he’s been
a character and just like Andy orang was
in his day I can almost guarantee that
gate Medina has had the same kind of
impact in the culture of Surfing so
really want to see him do well at margar
River he’s the defending champ over
there and hopefully he can bounce back
but um as both Dave and I said uh we’re
not controlling the heat in the end it’s
the five people that are up there
scoring the two Surfers in the water and
they had kman unanimous unanimously by
the way defeating Gabriel Medina in that
one so we will try to see him bounce
back and congratulations to Cole hman he
gets his first Victory on the
championship tour so our second question
is uh from a listener who is one of my
personal best friends from where I’m
from originally masan Mexico and at
peper 3 right to us Dave is this the end
of the Florence Medina era we kind of
answered a good portion of it uh in our
last question but um you can go ahead
and answer what you think about this
it’s interesting right so both of them
made it onto the tour at the midseason
rotation this is before the field was
reduced this is no after the field was
reded excuse me
um in 2011 yeah and this is before the
three- tier system it’s before the
finals all that stuff so they’ve been on
tour the exact same amount of time this
is their 14th year and I think when Gabe
I think when they both qualified it’s
hard to think this now given what
they’ve achieved no one had really pick
them as World title contenders and
that’s just the truth you know like Gabe
had this meteoric rise he was so young
um but so it happened so fast and even
then there never been a Brazilian World
Champion I think most people in the
surfing world were like yeah maybe he’ll
he’ll win an event here or there but
he’s so young he’s not complete Etc he
immediately delivers on the on the CT he
wins you know two out of his first five
events or whatever it was and even John
and this is insane to say but when he
qualified he was kind of known as a
barrel guy and and kind of an air guy
but mostly just a barrel guy and I think
people are like well I hope he can
compete in compete in ways that don’t
don’t provide canvases for that kind of
surfing um and they both got better very
quickly that said I don’t know if
there’s ever been a Florence Medina era
where it’s lined up perfectly like Gabe
wins the world title in
2014 you know John comes in 2016
2017 Gabe comes back but they were never
really kind of head-to-head at the same
time and they’ve never been in a finals
together you know and whether that’s you
know know post-world title hangover or
injury or whatever it’s just never
really lined up so I don’t I I I
certainly wouldn’t say the Medina
Florence era is over I think they’re
both surfing better than they ever have
I just think the results haven’t lined
up to where we’re seeing this
head-to-head I think that’s honestly in
speaking to both of them in private over
the last few years they haven’t name
checked each other but that’s why they
love the idea of the finals is like I
might meet someone like that when
everything is on the line and I want to
see what I’m made out of you know um I
hope we get it like I hope they end up
in the finals this year or in future
Years cuz I think over the last decade
they’ve certainly stood out as as two of
the best I just don’t think it’s ever
lined up at the same time but I don’t
know Mitch what do you think well I
think he hit it spot on right there um
outside once again Kelly Mark Richards
Tom Curran Steph Carissa Gabe and John
John are two of the greatest Surfers of
all time time and two of the most
complete Surfers of all time too like
that’s that’s the main thing right there
cuz Kelly Andy had that they could surf
50 foot waves they could surf two foot
waves and be the best in the world still
and you look at Gabe you look at John
John they can almost do the same thing
too and they come from a generation
that’s incredible I don’t necessarily
think it’s over I just think more people
are starting to succeed and I think
that’s great for the sport too you need
more people you need more diversity and
most importantly
it’s boring if those people at the top
aren’t being challenged you know like
how many years were there where Kelly he
was winning six out of the seven events
like I remember 2008 four out of the
first five events he won it’s like at
that point nobody’s going to be able to
catch him in terms of the rankings like
he had already won the World
Championship in the first seven or eight
events mathematically just by his
results so I don’t necessarily think
it’s coming to an end I just think other
people are getting better and I think
that’s super necessary important for the
sport yeah and that ties in with what we
talked about earlier about these rookies
or these tour sophomores these young
Surfers coming on tour and being so
prepared whereas you know in in past
decades your top seeds surf against your
bottom seeds at the start of the event
and a lot of times they would just mop
the floor with them based on experience
or inexperience on the younger Surfer
side that’s not happening anymore so
you’re seeing like the the Gabe cold
Heat’s a perfect example of you know 20
years ago someone of Gabe stature facing
a rookie of Cole stature you know the
rookie probably struggles in those
conditions or in that moment with those
Stakes on the line and the veteran wins
that’s just not the case anymore for any
of them um so it’s it’s a great point
you make yeah and I’m really excited to
see uh these generational rookies not
only gain momentum but open the door for
other people to kind of get inspired and
do the same thing too you mentioned
George patar as one of your winners for
the event well he’s on the challengers
again he could easily qualify for the
champ to he was number 19 nine spots
away and I think in the end you need
those kind of people to not only create
those rivalries but also make things
competitive because in the end what’s
the point of having a world championship
tour with an a multitude of people if
only one person’s winning the whole time
it serves no purpose whatsoever so I
think the most important thing getting
more people on the championship tour
from different regions and have them
really compete and make things difficult
for the people that have been at the top
for years um so a great question what’s
the the sunny and I’m going to date
myself here the sunny and Shar song the
The Beat Goes On man the CT goes on
there’s just a new cast of characters
that come through every so often so it’s
it’s exciting to see that in 2024 and it
happens in every sport too like it it it
just needs to happen and that’s why what
Kelly’s done for 35 plus years is even
more impressive now it’s amazing how
many generations did he had to go did he
have to go through and he’s still
relevant as a thing you get him in good
waves like if he’s the wild card in Fiji
and it’s pumping I’d be a little
preoccupied about getting Kelly
especially if he’s a wild card and
you’re one of the top dogs you’re going
to have to Surf against him in the early
rounds yep I’m with you so be point5 not
necessarily question this is from at
bedi uh just wants to say thank you
really enjoys every episode of uh the
reviews of the CT stops that we do so at
beat toedy shout out to you you thanks
for listening into the Pod yeah thanks
for that and thanks to everyone who
listens as well and and as we’ve said
everyone that writes in at the lineup
pod if we don’t get to your question on
the podcast we we do do our best to
respond to everybody in the DMS anyway
so um yeah that’s nice it’s it’s nice to
get positive feedback and send in the
things even if they’re negative too I
mean who cares Dave and I still read it
we might not be super happy about it but
you can still write to us for anyone for
for anyone out there who has a little
bit of apprehension sending something
negative in don’t worry there are plenty
of people who don’t have that anxiety
and we still appreciate it so so send it
on through yeah for real um our final
question in The Listener question
segment um at santo. riccardo is Cole a
final five Contender now I can tell you
one thing for for damn sure Dave uh
having competed against him having
judged him and having surf lowers with
him he can surf Low’s left pretty damn
good and we all know what he can do on
his
backand yeah I mean I think it’s
interesting like you brought it up a few
times and it’s the point of difference
thing which has always been the case in
in really any sport but certainly in
subjectively scored sports like surfing
it’s always been the case like if you
come in and you competing and performing
at an elite level but you’re also doing
it in a way that’s a few degrees
different in whatever fashion there is a
huge advant Vantage and that could be
technique it could be equipment and I
think in Cole’s case it it’s probably a
combination but but physicality like he
is a big dude and he does big turns and
they’re not lumbering turns they’re
sharp sharpened with power both backhand
and forehand he can release the fins he
can get barreled um and you know I I
don’t if we talked about it but but in
Hawaii this year I I was the first time
I not the first time I met Cole but
first time we actually spent some time
talking together he was on the podcast
we we I hung out a bit in person and at
Surfers orientation none other than
former world number two and and goofy
foot icon Luke Egan was there and I’ve
known Luke for a number of years and he
and I were talking and I said so good to
catch up and and he was coaching
Caroline marks last year coached her to
a world title and I said oh you back
with Caroline this year and he said yeah
um I’m also I’m also coaching Cole house
I said oh that’s cool how did you guys
connect he goes I reached out to him and
I went holy crap man that that must feel
like winning the world title already
like if Luke eagan’s reaching out to
coach you yeah that’s impressive so so
Luke sees something in Cole I think we
all see something in Cole and I think as
we’ said it’s the point of difference
and also the fact that every Surfer
men’s and women’s CT they can win you
know and so I I think he’s a final five
Contender I think he’s a world title
Contender what about you Mitch yeah I
think so too and um we had a panel last
year that you led at the US Open um
which I thought was really really
necessary because we had all the brands
there everybody representing the brand
too
and we brought up Cole hman and how at
that point of the Challenger season he
already already he had already qualified
for the championship tour he actually
ended up winning the Challenger Series
within the first four events of the
Season we still had two events to go
which were both Portugal and
Brazil and at that point I told you my
personal perspective was that he was
going to be Rookie of the Year and he
was going to compete for the world
championship so as of right now has his
first championship tour Victory is
within the top 10 it’s not guaranteed
that he’s going to stay both within the
top 10 and make it into the final five
but confidence is a major thing and
getting into rhythm with both your
equipment the ocean the location and as
you said having Luke yean in his Corner
who’s won a CT event at lower by the way
is something major and especially when
somebody like his uh um with his degree
his pedigree has really gone through the
kind of multitudes of difficulties that
a lot of goofy Footers had to endure for
years in the ’90s 2000s where there
minimal lefts on the championship tour
this guy knows what Cole’s both capable
of doing and what he has to go through
in order to be successful so to be able
to do it with the format that we have
now at lowers even if you’re number one
you’re number five there’s a possibility
of winning a world championship and it
just comes down to preparation during
the offseason you started with the
incredible production that our broadcast
has physically he looks fit it looks
like his boards and his equipment’s in
tune I truly feel that he’s a top 10
Surfer and you better watch out because
having Fiji as the last event of the
Year an event that he could easily win
that is a major possibility for him
making into the top five and being a
world champion in his rookie season
would be the first male to do so as well
outside of Stephanie Gilmore being the
only female I think that’s really well
said thanks to everyone who wrote in
questions at the lineup pod as we said
if we didn’t get to your question on the
Pod we’ll do our best to respond uh in
the DMS there so thanks again keep the
questions and comments coming Mitch
thank you so much this has been so much
fun and uh yeah we’re going to talk
again real soon when ct5 the Western
Australia Margaret River Pro wrap
everyone can watch that live on
worldsurfleague.com and the WSL app
thanks again Mitch and make sure to go
go left goofies come on let’s see the
left bang over there in Margaret
River
1 Comment
What have you done to Medina?