• Lau, Coffin and Fioravanti Find Form at Snapper Rocks • Simmers and Rapoza Lead The Charge for the Next Gen on Day 3 • Event Big Names Eye off Finals Day on Gold Coast • More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com
The Boost Mobile Gold Coast Pro presented by Rip Curl, stop one of the 2022 World Surf League Challenger Series (CS), has seen a wet and drizzly day with more epic waves. Snapper Rocks has continued to deliver yet again with waves in the three-to-four foot range running down the point for surfers in the the Men’s Round of 48 and women’s Round of 32.
Ezekiel Lau, Conner Coffin and Leonardo Fioravanti Find Form at Snapper Rocks Fresh off the disappointment of falling below the Mid-season Cut line and losing their spot on the Championship Tour, Ezekiel Lau (HAW) and Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA above) have come into the first stop of the Challenger Series looking like they mean business. Today was a big day for both competitors as they each claimed impressive heat wins and progressed into the Round of 24 and closer to the business end of competition. For Fioravanti, it seemed to be a cruisy win as the lightning fast natural footer found a few long walls to dispatch of 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) in what was a bitter-sweet victory for the Italian.
“That heat really went to plan for me and I’m stoked how it played out,” said Fioravanti. “To surf against Kelly Slater is always an honor and I want to say now a big thank you to Kelly Slater – he has been my inspiration and he has done so much for the sport for a long time. I’m also very appreciative of all the support here from the Italian community who have turned up to support me – It’s fantastic.”
For Lau (above), there was a little more work needed as he came up against event standout Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) and Brazilian duo Lucas Silveira (BRA) and Matheus Navarro (BRA) in what ended up being a tight clash. With three surfers claiming excellent scores, Lau needed something big towards the end of the heat to guarantee his spot in the next round, and that is what he got, dropping into a thick tube behind the Snapper Rock and disappearing from sight before flying out and laying several of his trademark frontside gouges to post a near perfect 9.57. Lau ended up winning the heat with a two-wave total of 18.07 (out of a possible 20) which was the highest of the event so far.
“That was a crazy heat” said Lau. “I was patient early and had to wait quite a while for my first wave and my competitors were getting good scores but then I got a great score and then managed to get that late final ride and take the heat at the end but it was a stressful heat throughout. I’ve scored well here in past years and the waves are great so I’m feeling good and confident to keep going here for sure.”
Conner Coffin (USA, above) looked in incredible step with the waves at Snapper Rocks with the Santa Barbara local taking a convincing win in his Round of 48 heat. Coffin will be hoping to build momentum through the event as he looks to build confidence ahead of the rest of the 2022 CS season.
Next Generation Step Up to the Plate Being the battleground to qualify for the Championship Tour, the Challenger Series is the first opportunity the world gets to lay eyes on the next generation of elite level competitive surfers and today in pumping waves at Snapper Rocks a handful of the next gen put on impressive displays to move closer to Finals Day and get their Qualification Campaigns off to a great start.
Adur Amatriain (EUK), Dylan Moffat (AUS above), Timothee Bisso (FRA), Oscar Berry (AUS), Maxime Huscenot (FRA) and Nolan Rapoza (USA) were some of the main names that stood out with their scores and results on Day 3 of competition. Moffat was impressive with an excellent two-wave heat total to win his heat whereas it was the composure of Californian Rapoza to claim a heat win over an inform Julian Wilson that really impressed surf fans today.”
“I’m so stoked to be surfing the Challenger Series and putting myself up against surfers like Julian Wilson who has been an idol of mine for many years,” said Rapoza. “I need to surf against and beat these guys to get to where I want to be, which is onto the Championship Tour and I’m definitely up for the challenge.”
Another young Californian who continues to impress is Caitlan Simmers (USA above) who progressed through her Round of 32 heat today in second place behind form surfer Malia Manuel (HAW). It was an epic matchup with Manuel taking on two prodigy’s in Simmers and Sierra Kerr (AUS) who earned her spot through winning the trials. Kerr looked in good touch but it was Simmer’s who was able to find the best waves when it mattered, claiming the second spot behind Manuel.
“I am really enjoying competing in waves like this – these are easily the best competition waves I’ve ever surfed in,” said Simmers. “ My goals this season are about enjoying all these locations that we get to surf more than anything – qualification is a goal but enjoying the experience is the most important and I’m loving the Gold Coast.”
Big Names Come to Play at Snapper Rocks Jadson Andre (BRA), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS, above), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS), Isabella Nichols (AUS), Conor O’Leary (AUS), Jackson Baker (AUS) and Julian Wilson (AUS) were some of the more established names that saw success on Day 3 at Snapper all finding their way into the next Round of competition.
For some, this success is all about building confidence ahead of the rest of the CT season whilst for others, it’s a fantastic opportunity to grab an early result on the Challenger Series while they look to reinstate themselves at the elite level.
Watch LIVE All Challenger Series events will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com, WSL’s YouTube channel, and the free WSL app. Check local listings for coverage from the WSL’s broadcast partners. For fans watching in Brazil, coverage of the competition’s Quarterfinals and beyond will continue exclusively on WorldSurfLeague.com and SporTV.
The 7th annual Cold Hawaii Surf & Film Festival will be running in Klitmøller, Denmark from Thursday the 12th to Saturday the 14th of May
Have you heard about Thy? It is a district in northwestern Denmark, known for outstanding landscapes and its own unique culture. It has become a ‘must visit’ destination. The North Sea coastline in Thy is called ‘Cold Hawaii’ and it’s a popular surf destination offering over 30 surf spots. The tricky part is that the best surf conditions are during the winter period. The freezing temperatures do not scare the locals, though. That is also why surf magazines have named it “world’s most stoked surf environment”.
Ben Largs new film will be playing
The idea of the Cold Hawaii Surf & Film Festival (CHSFF) was born to celebrate cold water surfing.
Starting in 2015 CHSFF has grown to become Denmark’s biggest surf film festival, bringing cold water surf films to Klitmøller every spring. “We have seen an increasing number of submitted films. This year we had 40 films from Australia, England, Poland, Canada, the USA, Ireland, Turkey, and Denmark to choose from. That’s the largest number ever”, explains the festival director Alicja Cupial.
“We are very happy with how our little festival has developed. 7 years ago, we started as a tiny event for local surfers, screening only movies made in Denmark. Today our lineup includes movies from all over the world, made by some of the best creators in the industry. This is amazing. But what’s also important, is that even though the festival has grown, we are keeping the simplicity and authenticity, so all our guests can feel the ‘Klitmøller vibe’ when they visit the event”, adds Cupial.
This year the festival will present 22 Danish and international surf films over three nights at the fishermen’s boathouse Kassehuset in Klitmøller.
Highlights at this year’s festival include a special screening of Ride the Wave on the opening night (Thursday, May 12th). An amazing story of young Ben Larg and his passion for big wave surfing. Martyn Robertson has documented his development from an 11-year-old talented kid to 14-year-old “big wave Ben”. It’s a must-see movie, especially if you’re young with big dreams, or if you are a parent to a youngster with big dreams. It’s an inspirational story about passion and growing up.
Friday night the groovy world music duo BaBalance is giving a concert after the day’s film screenings. Expect dirty desert rock blended with rhythms from Central- and West Africa mixed with jazz and blues.
Saturday afternoon, May 14, there will be a special focus on Korean surf movies. “When we put extra focus on surfing films from Korea this year, it is because we can see many similarities between the surfing environment and surfing tourism in Denmark and South Korea,” says Cupial.
Other than the movies and the music, the organizers invite to join or watch the surf competition. Every year, in cooperation with the Danish Surfing Federation, the festival hosts one of the stops of the Danish Surf Tour. The competition is open to everyone and will take place on the 13th and 14th of May – if the weather conditions allow it.
For further information about Cold Hawaii Surf & Film Festival presented by California Wines check out the website. Tickets are on sale now here.
Growing up on Quobba Station, home to one of the best waves on Australia’s west coast, Imogen started surfing in her mid-teens alongside her father and three brothers. With a surfing style learned at The Bluff, a steep, fast and powerful left hander, Imogen quickly showed signs of surfing greatness. Her fearless nature and sheer determination has since led her to surf some of the heaviest barrels that Australia’s coastline has to offer.
The hopes of the great Welsh nation and indeed the British Isles were set alight on Instagram and Twitter as they announced Swanseas Patrick Langdon Dark had qualified for the WSL 2022 Challenger series, the second of three competitive tiers that provides the qualification route to the World Tour.
The offending post
Unfortunately after some digging it appears someone had let the work experience in charge of announcements and Pat who had finished 13th was not hopping on a plane to the Goldy.
The 2022 WSL Challenger Series will feature 96-man and 64-woman fields, drawn from the seven WSL Regional Qualifying Series around the world.
CS surfers will compete for a chance to advance to the elite WSL CT in 2023, with surfers counting their best five of eight results on the Challenger Series in hopes of finishing in the Top 10 men’s and Top 5 women’s spots by the end of the season.
The WSL press release does not have him down. But got to be a good shout for wildcard hey WSL??!!
WSL announced qualifiers via press release last night.
The 2022 WSL CS will consist of eight events, beginning at Snapper Rocks on Australia’s Gold Coast, Australia from May 7 – 15 and concluding in Haleiwa, Hawai’i, from November 26 – December 7.
The 2022 WSL Challenger Series Schedule*
Gold Coast, Australia – May 7 – 15
Manly, Australia – May 17 – 24
Ballito, South Africa – July 20 – 27
Huntington Beach, USA – July 30 – August 7
Ericeira, Portugal – October 1 – 9
Landes, France – October 15 – 23
Piha, New Zealand – November 5 – 13
Haleiwa, Hawai’i – November 26 – December 7
The Scottish Junior Surf team has groms from all over Scotland. They have all qualified for the team through their results at the Scottish national junior surf championships and since then have been training hard to showcase Scotlands best junior surfers at EursoSurf Junior 2022.
The team will travel to Santa Cruz in Portugal 14th July with their coach, assistant coach, manager and videographer. The opening ceremony on the 15th will be an amazing experience with everyone in kilts and waving the Scottish flag. Then the competition starts on the Saturday for the next 8 days where they will proudly represent Scotland. They will be surfing in the Under 18 and Under 16 boys, Under 18 and Under 16 girls, Longboard boys and longboard girls.
The surfers are Craig McLachlan (North Shore Surf Club), Ebon Parkin (Belhaven Surf Club), Olivia Mackay (North Shore Surf Club), Nadia Murray (North Shore Surf Club), Finn Clark (Edinburgh and Borders Surf Club), Israel Noble (Broch Surf Club), Fraser Brown (Moray Firth Surf Riders), Lola Mitchell (Broch Surf Club), Annie Herd (Edinburgh and Borders Surf Club) and Callie Cruickshank (Broch Surf Club).
This will be an amazing opportunity for the Scottish team but they need your help. There is no funding available so all expenses need to be met through fundraising, donations, sponsors and parents. Please support us by buying a reward or donation. Thank you so much!
