SA wave-riders on a high in 2018
Special year worldwide for a sport growing in popularity, and our locals played a significant part
IN the words of the World Surf League CEO, Sophie Goldschmidt, the current WSL season delivered numerous “special moments”, making 2018 a year to remember.
“Looking back at history no season has its shortage of special moments, and 2018 was certainly no exception,” confirmed Goldschmidt in her wrap-up post for the year.
Goldschmidt highlighted the retirement of two of surfing’s greats, Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson; the launch of WSL wave pool events; pay parity for women along with Stephanie Gilmore’s record-equalling seven world titles and Gabriel Medina’s second world title.
Before a single wave was surfed in earnest on the Championship Tour this year, the WSL was already making global headlines when Goldschmidt announced a two-year digital media partnership deal with Facebook, reportedly worth half a billion rand.
Looking ahead, surfing’s inclusion into the 2020 Olympic Games will also be a key focus with the WSL’s CT rankings and International Surfing Association (ISA) events both determining qualifiers for the Tokyo Games in July 2020.
From a South African perspective, 2018 also delivered memorable milestones.
Matthew McGillivray (Jeffreys Bay) ensured that the South African flag would be a regular feature on WSL podiums by winning the first WSL QS event of the season in January, the SEAT Netanya Pro in Israel.
McGillivray then closed out his season as the top-ranked South African on the QS, finishing in 30th position out of a field of well over 1,000 “qualifiers” from around the world.
While still way off the mark from the elite Championship Tour (the top ten qualifiers graduate to the CT) McGillivray is one of seven South Africans to break into the top 100 on the QS this year.
Joining McGillivray in the top 100 for the first time are David van Zyl (Glenashley, 60th place), Adin Massencamp (Cape Town, 87th) and Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay, 98th). Also featuring in the top 100 are Beyrick de Vries (uMhlanga, 49th) Michael February (Cape Town, 50th) and Benji Brand (Kommetjie, 93rd).
Jeffreys Bay’s’ Steven Sawyer and Durbanite Grant ‘Twig’ Baker’s successes, on the Longboard Championship and the Big Wave Tour respectively, also added to South Africa’s significant impact on the WSL this year.
Sawyer’s victory in Taiwan earlier this month and Baker’s Nazare’ Challenge win in Portugal in late November confirms SA surfers have both the talent and class to wear a Jeep Leader Yellow Jersey. Last, but not least, is Jordy Smith who has been a beacon of light for surfing on the dark continent for the past decade. Just when critics were ready to write Smith off as a future world title contender, he saved his best for last in the recent Pipe Masters. While Smith will count his semi-final finish alongside Kelly Slater at Pipeline as one of his year’s highlights the result in itself is far greater, and he knows it. With renewed confidence at critical reef-breaks, such as Teahupoo in Tahiti and Pipeline in Hawaii, 2019 is looking like the year in which it all comes together for 30-year-old Smith.