RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH 2022 - BY JAMIE TIERNEY

Brazil’s Filipe Toledo and Australia’s Tyler Wright won the 2022 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.  The conditions were hit and miss. Brad lived near Bells recently and was most impressed by the quarterfinal heat between John John Florence and Toledo. “That’s the highest level - those two going at it in big rights,” said Brad. “They had a good match up but I thought Filipe won it with his first wave. He was too dominant.” Brad was also impressed by Brazil’s Joao Chianca. “Joao is raw and that’s a good thing, but he’ll do way better when he refines his surfing a bit more. I loved the way he surfed against John John, but John was too much for him. John’s best wave should have been a 10. I watched it over and over. It was sublimely incredible to see how much control and awareness he has in order to weight and unweight without skipping out.

Brad thinks that many surfers struggle at tricky waves like Bells because they focus too far down the line. “When you’re surfing a wave with an uneven reef in windy conditions, a lot of the bumps can surprise you,” he said. “You need to look in front of you more to see what’s coming.”

In the women’s division, Brad felt that Tyler Wright was a leg above everyone else.  “Tyler looks solid and powerful but she knows when to lighten up too,” said Brad. “She’s got finesse and keeps her head right over the board.” He was also impressed by rookie Gabriela Bryan. “She is really powerful and has big potential,” said Brad. “She's one of my favorites.”