A new rule introduced for this year’s World Surf League has proved as brutal as expected, with several big-name Australians falling victim to the mid-season cut during competition at the Margaret River Pro.
Emotions have run high in Western Australia this week as Sally Fitzgibbons, Owen Wright and Morgan Cibilic all lost their Championship Tour status due to the rule change, which has delivered on Tour organisers’ promises to provide more drama and increased pressure.
Tokyo Olympian Fitzgibbons dropped off the main tour for the first time in 14 years and 108 consecutive events after failing to progress beyond the round of 16, while Cibilic, who finished fifth in the world last year, was also demoted to the second-tier Challenger Series.
Fitzgibbons was visibly upset after falling to Frenchwoman Johanne Defay, who was also in tears as she consoled the Australian in the water.
“The unconditional love that comes with putting on my jersey #89. Everything about this sport, the surf community and my dream keeps me coming back for more,” Fitzgibbons wrote on social media afterwards.
“I felt every one of those cheers and hugs from you yesterday and hope I can reciprocate when we cross paths in your big moment.”
The fate of Wright, the Olympic bronze medallist, was finally sealed on Wednesday when Matthew McGillivray beat Miguel Pupo in their round-of-16 match-up. A day earlier, the prospect of dropping off the tour for the first time in 12 years had left a devastated Wright apparently considering his future in the sport.
“I know I’m surfing really well, but I’ve got a lot of life outside of the tour – kids and wife and what not,” Wright said. “Whatever I do will be a family decision. We’ll kind of go through the motions of what’s next. There’s a lot more questions to be had. We’ll see what happens.”
All three Australians will now head to the Gold Coast for this weekend’s Challenger Series event as they seek a way back from the minor leagues to the 2023 Championship Tour.
Joining the trio at Snapper Rocks will be the Brazilian rookie Joao Chianca, who also suffered heartbreak and broke down after being beaten by Italo Ferreira.
“Can I be honest, I really wish I could go home and not do anything right now for the next few days,” Chianca said. “It’s all about finding hope in the hopeless. I’m not going to give up so soon. I’m still young and definitely have a lot to learn.”
The WSL introduced the mid-season cut for this year’s tour to reduce the men’s and women’s fields from 36 and 18 to 24 and 12 respectively at the season’s midway point.
In announcing the plan last year, tour organisers said the move would allow events to run within the most optimal swell cycles at locations like Indonesia’s G-Land (the next stop on the tour) and J-Bay in South Africa, “as well as ensure that the stars of the sport meet head to head more frequently”.
Kolohe Andino was one of the lucky ones, making it through with victory over another Australian, Jackson Baker, but the American said the rule is proving unpopular with the athletes.
“It’s just kind of hard the whole cut thing. No one really likes it,” Andino told the WSL broadcast. “We’re all friends on tour and we all love each other, so you don’t want to knock the guy off tour.
“It just seems like it’s a TV show a little bit, like drama all the time. Watching the women’s the other day it was just heartbreaking with the girls that were losing. They were crying all day.”
By the end of Wednesday, there were tears of a different kind as Isabella Nichols broke down after defying the odds to win the women’s event – and secure her place on the tour for the rest of the season.
The Queenslander, who was placed in equal 12th heading into this week’s event, had to go all the way at Margaret River to avoid the cut, and following wins over Lakey Peterson, Johanne Defay and Bronte Macaulay, she saw off Gabriela Bryan in the final to claim her maiden Championship Tour title.
“I don’t feel like this moment is real right now,” Nichols said. “I’ve dreamt about this my whole life. I feel like I’m still in bed at home asleep. It will take me a while to digest. There is no better feeling than this in the whole world.”
Amid the drama, another Australian, Jack Robinson, claimed the men’s title with victory over former world champion John John Florence in the final.
