“Some bigger barrels would be sick… Let’s go… Let’s finish strong.” Molly Picklum.
An exasperated “the girls deserve better than this” hit my ears as I found my way to the Pipeline house mid-morning. I’d been so busy juggling the hundred items in my hands that I hadn’t taken a second to look out at the conditions, and when I finally did all I could think was, “Oh no”.
We all knew there was a ‘saviour’ swell on its way, we’d all prayed for it to rear its head early. However, as I glared at Pipeline in the pouring rain, it seemed that those prayers had fallen on deaf ears.
Despite what anyone deserved, or wanted, day four had to go ahead. Time had ticked along while we’d all been enjoying our Mai Tais on lay days. Now we were on the precipice of the competition window, whether we liked it or not both the Women’s Elimination and Round 16 were on.
The atmosphere started out heavy, as crowds watched Carissa Moore become the first victim of the elimination round, something I think everyone reading this can agree we didn’t see coming. “Please Carissa, this is your ‘Blue Crush’ moment, do something,” uttered a WSL employee as we both watched the horizon holding our breath. I’d never heard something that hit the nail on the head harder. It almost felt like we were seeing a surfer go on strike; was she just done? Had Carissa just clocked out? Was this a stance against something more?
As the ever-so-abrupt buzzer sounded, and we all digested what we’d just witnessed, crowds flocked Moore, leis in hand, paying their respects to a huge career that didn’t quite get the fairytale finale we all hoped it would. Maybe Carissa, who has five world titles, is just doing a Kelly. Slater had a couple of years off after he won six titles and then returned to win five more.
A photographer made her way across the sand back to our cover, “I didn’t even want to photograph her coming out of the ocean, it just felt so sad,” she whispered to me with all the empathy she could muster.
Throughout the Pipe Pro setting you could not only feel the shock, but hear the collective mumbles, about an event where champions had dropped left, right and centre, during both the men’s and women’s rounds. Carissa Moore’s premature exit, followed by Lakey Peterson’s loss, seemed to amplify the mixed emotions about the calls made in the event. Whichever way you scrutinised the decisions you couldn’t deny the next generation had seized their moment and ruthlessly carved their names into the bracket stage of the event. Meanwhile, some of the familiar faces that people have grown to love over the years were slipping away – Inevitable yes, but bittersweet? Of course.
Chatter seemed to detour into finding a silver lining and rumours of the Eddie Aikau event potentially getting a green light next week elevated the mood. As a monster swell hurls its way towards Hawaiian shores, Thursday or Friday are looking like possible ‘Eddie Go’ days.
Spirits further lifted in the afternoon as we were met with cleaner sets, giving us a hint of what to expect tomorrow. Bettylou Sakura Johnson and Molly Picklum injected some electricity into the tail end of everyone’s day. With the singular excellent score found amongst the temperamental conditions, an 8.17, Picklum quickly emerged as the clear crowd favourite to take home the title this year at Pipe. It seemed like Picklum was speaking on everyone’s behalf after her heat. “Some bigger barrels would be sick… Let’s go. Let’s finish strong,” she offered with trademark confidence.
With the fingertips of the swell tickling at Pipe in the late-afternoon, the promise of not only a Pipe Pro redemption, but a huge day of competition looms ahead. Tomorrow we’ll see both the Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals run over a non-stop eight-hour session. Let’s hope it’s a big day in every way.
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Women’s Quarterfinal Matchups:
HEAT 1: Caitlin Simmers (USA) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
HEAT 2: Luana Silva (BRA) vs. Brisa Hennessy (CRC)
HEAT 3: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)
HEAT 4: Molly Picklum (AUS) vs. Johanne Defay (FRA)
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Quarterfinal Matchups:
HEAT 1: Ethan Ewing (AUS) vs. Connor O’Leary (JPN)
HEAT 2: Jordy Smith (RSA) vs. Barron Mamiya (HAW)
HEAT 3: Ian Gentil (HAW) vs. Imaikalani deVault (HAW)
HEAT 4: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
