Steph Gilmore victorious as women return to surfing graveyard
STEPHANIE Gilmore has all but sealed her spot in the WSL finals after winning the first women’s heat at the famous Teahupo’o break in almost 20 years.
Competition in Tahiti finally got underway six days into the waiting period, although conditions in Gilmore’s first heat of the day were far from ideal. At a reef break famous for its massive barrelling waves, the athletes were made to work hard for scores, having to resort to grinding turns on smaller peaks with few chances to tuck into tubes.
Gold Coast’s Gilmore handled the conditions best, notching a pair of scores early in a move she admitted was tactical given the championship situation.
“My strategy was to just make sure that I stay busy,” Gilmore said.
“There’s a few barrels but they’re few and far between, so I tried to just do manoeuvres and if a barrel comes, I’ll try to get it but just try and be active – that was my plan.”
The win, a 7.50 two-wave total (out of a possible 20) against fellow Aussie Isabella Nichols (2.67) and Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy (5.60) sends the seven-time world champion straight to the quarter-finals, avoiding the early knockout rounds.
And with Gilmore holding the no.4 ranking heading into the heat, just ahead of Hennessy (5), the victory was crucial in helping maintain her position heading into the WSL finals at Lower Trestles in California, next month. “(The win was crucial) in particular because I had Brisa there and Brisa is right there trying to get into the top five,” Gilmore said.
“Brisa is like, you know, she’s right there and trying to get into the top five and so for both of us it was a really important heat.”
There are few things Gilmore has not achieved in the sport but she admitted she was “so nervous and excited” heading into the opening round in Tahiti.