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.

South Swell 12 second period 6-7 feet, high-tide in the morning and almost all day North-West wind was a good call for Playgrounds Zone, specially for Rifles, aka Kandui Right!

The morning started slow, busy lineup, long waiting, but as mid to low-tide hit the clock and most boats left for a lunch break we got an epic one hour window with still some bombs and barley any people out!

Around 1 pm a storm came in and the session was over and evening time got even more busy and less good waves.

The Margaret River Pro, the fifth stop on the World Surf League (WSL) 2022 Championship Tour (CT), resumed in solid eight-to-twelve foot surf today with men’s Opening Round. The Margaret River Pro is the final event before the Mid-season Cut, and the upcoming Elimination Rounds will be critical for the competitors’ futures on the 2022 CT season. With the competitors’ careers on the line in these next elimination heats, the WSL Tours and Competition team will be eyeing more favourable winds tomorrow morning to resume the Elimination Round. The next call will be tomorrow, Saturday, April 30, at 7:15 a.m. for a possible start at 7:35 a.m. AWST. 

John John Florence Leads Standout Performers at Main Break

As expected, the standout performance of the opening day went to two-time WSL Champion John John Florence (HAW) who posted the highest two-wave combination of the Opening Round in his heat against WSL wildcard Jacob Willcox (AUS) and Lucca Mesinas (PER). The 2021 Margaret River Pro saw Florence putting down some of the most incredible performances in modern surfing memory before injuring his knee in the Quarterfinal and sitting out the rest of the season. This year, Florence is back, and let it be known with an epic heat win in challenging conditions, to progress into the Round of 32.

“It’s super challenging out there this morning as there is so much energy out in the ocean,” Florence said. “The swell is massive and there has been a lot of wind over the last few days but it’s cleaning up now and there are some great waves out there. I’m stoked that the waves are big today – it’s fun going fast. I love it here, you take off and have so much speed and just have these massive walls in front of you, it’s a lot like some waves we have in Hawaii. My injury here last year was unfortunate but that’s just what happens in sport, especially when surfing waves like this. I’m just happy to be back surfing, and surfing here in West Aus.” 

Other standouts in the Opening Round were Ezekiel Lau (HAW above), Connor O’Leary (AUS), and Jackson Baker (AUS), who all earned excellent single-wave scores in their matchups to claim heat wins and progress into the Round of 32. It was essential for both Lau and Baker to grab results as they both sit on the Cut-line here at Margaret River.

Surfers Dig Deep in Opening Round to Avoid Mid-season Cut

A number of surfers who are sitting just above or just below the Mid-season Cut were desperate to avoid the Elimination Round and were able to do so successfully with second-place finishes in their Opening Round Heats. 2022 CT rookie Lucca Mesinas (PER) along with veterans Owen Wright (AUS), Conner Coffin (USA above), and Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) all snuck through to the Round of 32 as they look to save their spots on tour, heading into the Quiksilver Pro G-Land. 

Another rookie in need of a big result at Margaret River Joao Chianca (BRA), who has been turning heads all season with some of the best performances to not win heats. Today, Chianca took a step in the right direction, claiming victory over Kolohe Andino (USA) and countryman Miguel Pupo (BRA) in Heat 10 of the Opening Round.  

“The main goal here is to go all the way to Finals Day,” Chianca said. “I’m going to need a lot to turn things around. I have been trying not to think too much about the cut line here and have just been cruising. WA is such a beautiful and special place. I have got good friends here so it’s been good to help settle my nerves. The tour is tough but I’m going to try and focus my energy on the positive things and see where that takes me.” 

WA’s Local Wildcard and Injury Replacements Face Elimination Round, Robinson Through to Round of 32

The Western Australia fans anxiously awaited Jack Robinson’s (above) debut in the 2022 Margaret River Pro as their local hero looked to back up his equal third-place finish at Bells Beach with another big result here on home soil. Robinson was able to sneak into the Round of 32 with a narrow second-place finish over Frederico Morais (PRT).

WSL Wildcard and Margaret River local Jacob Willcox (AUS) has found himself in the Elimination Round after he was unable to overcome Lucca Mesinas (PER) and John John Florence (HAW) in their Opening Round match-up. 

Local Trials winner and runner-up Ben Spence (AUS) and Jack Thomas (AUS) were dispatched to Elimination Round 2 after losing their opening round heats at Main Break. The pair will get one more chance when competition resumes as they move into the dreaded Elimination Round. 

Margaret River Pro Men’s Opening Round 1 Results:

HEAT 1: Callum Robson (AUS) 12.17 DEF. Imaikalani deVault (HAW) 10.00, Samuel Pupo (BRA) 9.83
HEAT 2: Jackson Baker (AUS) 12.03 DEF. Barron Mamiya (HAW) 10.77, Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) 10.17
HEAT 3: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 15.00 DEF. Ryan Callinan (AUS) 13.37, Kelly Slater (USA) 9.20
HEAT 4: John John Florence (HAW) 15.60 DEF. Lucca Mesinas (PER) 8.93, Jacob Willcox (AUS) 8.44
HEAT 5: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.10 DEF. Conner Coffin (USA) 8.50, Ben Spence (AUS) 7.70
HEAT 6: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.00 DEF. Owen Wright (AUS) 9.63, Jack Thomas (AUS) 6.90
HEAT 7: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.17 DEF. Jake Marshall (USA) 13.26, Jadson Andre (BRA) 6.17
HEAT 8: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 13.70 DEF. Nat Young (USA) 10.90, Deivid Silva (BRA) 7.63
HEAT 9: Connor O'Leary (AUS) 13.80 DEF. Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 12.90, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 9.24
HEAT 10: Joao Chianca (BRA) 12.43 DEF. Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.87, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 6.27
HEAT 11: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 11.33 DEF. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.17, Seth Moniz (HAW) 6.50
HEAT 12: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14.07 DEF. Jack Robinson (AUS) 11.47, Frederico Morais (PRT) 11.43

Margaret River Pro Men’s Elimination Round 2 Matchups:
HEAT 1: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. Jack Thomas (AUS)
HEAT 2: Caio Ibelli (BRA) vs. Deivid Silva (BRA) vs. Ben Spence (AUS)
HEAT 3: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Frederico Morais (PRT) vs. Jacob Willcox (AUS)
HEAT 4: Seth Moniz (HAW) vs. Samuel Pupo (BRA) vs. Matthew McGillivray (ZAF)

Margaret River Pro Women’s Elimination Round 2 Matchups:
HEAT 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Luana Silva (HAW) vs. Mia McCarthy (AUS)
HEAT 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) vs. Gabriela Bryan (HAW) vs. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)

The WSL Acknowledges the Wadandi people as the Traditional Owners of the Margaret River region and thank them for welcoming us to their Boodja (Country). We pay our respects to the Wadandi community and their Elders past and present. The WSL is committed to ongoing learning about local history, culture, and language of Wadandi Boodjar (Saltwater People’s Country). They have asked all of us to walk together softly on county and respect the ocean and waterways. We wish to also extend this Acknowledgement and respect to other First Nations Peoples who join us in person and online.

Watch LIVEThe event window for the Margaret River Pro is now open and holds a competition window through May 4. The event 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.

Do Right - Miles Lee-Hargreaves and friends tearing up a rip-bowl right on the North Coast.

A new film by Johnny Gonzales takes look behind the lens of legendary surf photographers from iconic water photographers from the Hawaiian hay days to more recent times in Cornwall and Ireland. It’s pretty epic and premiers in Falmouth at the Poly Theatre on April 22nd, 23rd and Sat 30th April, 8pm.

We caught up with him to find out more.

What made you decide to make a film about surf photography?
As a surf photographer early on in my career when people would see my photos they would always ask, "Were you on a boat or a board or how did you get that shot?" At the time I was in film school and one of my assignments was to make a documentary and I decided to tell the story about the dangers and challenges water photographers face when getting the ultimate shot. After graduation I took the advice of my professor to pitch the idea to PBS and make a version where I travelled around the world interviewing water photographers and PBS liked the idea and as they say, the rest is history.

How long did it take you?
The film took me 3 years to make because it was all self funded and I travelled to Hawaii, Ireland, Mexico, and England by myself. I put every dollar I made into this film and gave up a lot of luxuries and thanks to all the people that let me sleep on their couch. Many times I'd get a good gig as a freelance editor and a week later I'd be off traveling with the money I made and come home completely broke and somehow find another job to keep me afloat and then score another good paying job and then off I'd go again. Since I was always traveling I couldn't get a regular steady job and had to rely on being a freelance camera operator and editor. I really want to thank all the surfers and families down at Lower Trestles that hired me to get their clips at the beach, they really kept food on the table that first year of filming.

There are some diamonds in there. I bet some of the original legends were pretty stoked to be involved.
Yeah, I think I was more stoked than anything because I remember as a grom sitting on the can flipping through the pages of all the surf mags and seeing their names in the bottom right corner of the pages and I really looked up to these guys.

I loved photography at an early age and was just so mesmerized by their images and to be able to have them in my film was really surreal for me. I remember after the film was finished, Jeff Divine sent me a really nice email saying how much he really liked the film and that really meant a lot to me. Also, I've become really good friends with Dan Merkel, so much that I've become almost like an assistant for him. He still goes out to this day and shoots whatever he can and his images are so good that they don't need to be photoshopped. It's actually pretty funny that he'll be off in Wyoming taking photos of bears in the freezing cold and once he's done with the memory card, he'll mail them to me and I'll transfer them onto a hard drive for him because he doesn't have a computer and I'll mail it back to wherever he's going to be next.

One of my favorite moments was after interviewing Brian Bielmann in Hawaii and he was showing me his record collection and we had a few beers listening to his favorite songs talking "story." Then Jim Russi is just one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and his photos are all amazing and I'll never forget the Bill Murray story that he told that ended up in the film.

I feel what they did with equipment back then really has stood the test of time...
What the old school photographers did with the equipment they had back in the day really blew my mind, I couldn't imagine being out there shooting film and only having 36 shots to a roll and once they're done they have to swim all the way back in and then do it all over again. It's definitely not like these days where we can fire off thousands of photos in literally minutes. Those guys were the true photographers and not to mention they had to pull focus and make sure they're settings were perfect before getting into the water, those guys in my humble opinion don't get enough recognition that they deserve.

And you came to Cornwall, Devon and Ireland. What inspired you to include them and how was that?I'm from California and if it was overcast there was a good chance I wasn't swimming out that day and the photographers over in England and Ireland do it more often than not and they're getting some incredible images and not to mention the water is freezing cold and I gained a whole new respect for what they do. I did some research and found Mike Lacey in Cornwall, Spike Chambers in Devon and David Olsthoorn from Ireland and they were really welcoming and keen on the idea of being included in the film. I really wanted to show the audience that water photographers are everywhere in the world and not just from warm places like Hawaii, California, and Mexico.

The one thing that I really liked about the photos these guys were getting is the backdrop was so different with the beautiful rolling hills, huge cliffs, and 300 year old churches all in the background. Also, I remember filming Mike in the water on my first trip to England at Porthleven and with in minutes the weather went from sunny, to pouring rain, to partly cloudy, to sunny again and I thought that was really cool because as a photographer you can get a bunch of different looks in one session.

I just want to add one last thing, I did have a scary experience at Porthtowan beach on Dec 18th 2017 where I got sucked out and almost drowned and luckily a local surfer saved me. I was so distraught when I made it back to the beach that I couldn't remember if his name was Brent or Brett. At the time he was surfing on a longboard and had brown hair and a brown beard, if anyone knows him please have him contact me.

"In the water, behind the lens.” will be playing in Falmouth next month on the 22nd and 23rd April.