The best of the current swell began to fade by day’s end on Thursday, but the Hawaiian Pro has narrowed its field down from 128 surfers to 56 with most of round three still on tap today. Despite the event
The best of the current swell began to fade by day’s end on Thursday, but the Hawaiian Pro has narrowed its field down from 128 surfers to 56 with most of round three still on tap today. Despite the event name and location, many of Hawaii’s early-round entries fell to visiting competitors. The rest of the contest may be heavily reliant on creativity with the waves losing some steam, but there will still be hard-fought heats as the first jewel of the Triple Crown of Surfing gets the winter season underway.
While seven Kauai surfers began the event in the field, only one remains. Sebastian Zietz was a top seed and earned a bye directly into round three, where he is still yet to surf. Zietz will take on Keanu Asing, Carlos Munoz and Michael Dunphy when action resumes. But six Garden Isle competitors took early losses.
Gavin Gillette was the first to make a heat when he earned second place in his opening-round foursome. He performed some last-second heroics to leap into second, scoring a 7.50 at the horn when he needed a 7.30 to overtake Ian Gouveia. But Gillette was eliminated in the second round with a stacked heat that saw two other Hawaii surfers, Ezekiel Lau and Kalani David, take the top spots for a place in round three.
Koa Smith was the only other to advance beyond his first-round heat, taking second place behind Aussie Thomas Woods. Smith needed just two waves to score a 13.06 total. But he would also fall in round two, never getting into the mix after a strong start by Conner Coffin and a clutch finish from Soli Bailey.
Dylan Goodale, Kaimana Jaquias, Alex Smith and Evan Valiere were all first-round casualties, but we’ll be seeing more of them as the Triple Crown progresses.
Other notable first-round exits included Makuakai Rothman, Jamie O’Brien, Mason Ho, Kiron Jabour and Myles Padaca.
The second round wasn’t all that much more forgiving as it saw the end for Granger Larsen, Tanner Hendrickson, Ola Eleogram, Billy Kemper and Torrey Meister.
The biggest names all get going in round three, including John John Florence, Adriano de Souza, Filipe Toledo and Gabriel Medina.
Just 11 of Hawaii’s surfers remain in the event, so it hasn’t been a fantastic start for the locals. But the field is wide open with a strong mix of world tour vets and qualifiers that should make for some interesting matchups the rest of the way. The only concern is whether the ocean will cooperate.
Including today, just four days remain in the waiting period with one full day of heats necessary before finals day. That window doesn’t look all that promising for a growing swell, but the hope is that the winds stay calm enough for the competitors to go to work in small conditions.
It could be a blessing for someone like Toledo, who can perform miraculous feats on small faces if the winds are right for his air game. But the local knowledge that a veteran like Sunny Garcia has accumulated over the years can prove invaluable when things become about more than just wave size.
Eight surfers have secured a spot in round four with 48 still trying to join them. They’ll almost certainly get going this morning, but things may die off quickly. Like any surf event, there is no guarantee when it comes to what the competitors will have to deal with in the water. Whatever waves avail themselves will determine who could be on their way to becoming a Triple Crown front runner.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
