Whatshot
Huge Swells For The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro
Huge Swells For The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro
Date: 2017-04-07
In one of Australia's biggest days in recent competitive surfing history, The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, Stop Number 2 on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), witnessed the world's best surfers take on Main Break in 8-to-12 foot (2.5 - 3.5 metre) waves, with sets in the 15 foot (4.5 metre) range.
The day ran through men's Rounds 3 and 4 and sawmajor players eliminated, while four surfers secured their place in the Quarterfinals.
The competition started with a massive upset, seeing 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater dispatched by second-year CT surfer Jack Freestone. Both surfers tackled the towering waves at Main Break, charging down fifteen-foot sets, but it was the underdog Freestone who locked in a 7.33 early on for the lead and continued to charge with a 6.50 backup. Slater posted two 5-point rides, but it was not enough to challenge. Slater will leave with an Equal 13th place finish.
"The waves are so good today," said Freestone. "I didn't know what the situation was until the last two minutes, but knew you can never leave [Kelly] Slater alone until the heat is over as he is capable of anything. It's so good to come away with a win in a heat like that."
"I don't really like surfing the early heats," Slater said. "The waves are amazing today and I think maybe I got a bit over amped and was just going for those bigger ones and trying to get barreledinstead of being smart. It's hard not to get over excited when the waves are like this, especially when you haven't seen waves like this for a while. This is a great event and when it all lines up, it could definitely be one of the best on tour"
The final heat of Round 4 saw Quiksilver rider Jeremy Flores, Filipe Toledo and Kolohe Andino all under pressure to earn the opportunity to skip straight through to the Quarterfinals. Toledo was all business as he got an early lead, but was then challenged by Andino and Flores. The heat exchanged multiple leaders, however Andino emerged victorious with a 14.77 combined score.
