Thumping swells bombarded Avoca Beach today for the high seeded rounds of both the Vissla Central Coast Pro and Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro.
Six foot plus with plenty of eight-feet rogue sets saw the event move south along this superb beach to take advantage of an excellent left peeling bank that handled the solid swells.
Local Central Coast surfer Molly Picklum continued to build on the upward trajectory that she'd built over the course of her earlier Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro, taking out her quarterfinal heat. In the relatively slow heat, the young natural-footer found a handful of punchy lefthanders - and one spectacular wipeout - to earn a respectable 9.00 two-wave heat total and eliminate 2020 event champion Sarah Baum from competition. A semi-final appearance here at Avoca means Picklum will jump current APAC QS rankings leader Bronte Macauley on the year's rankings. Molly will meet current world number three Sally Fitzgibbons in tomorrow's semi-finals.
"The waves out there were definitely tricky," said Picklum. "The backwash was super hard to negotiate and you had to really time your turns before the waves closed out. It was easy to see how you could get lost out there with those sets. Thankfully, I found those few waves and got through."
Fellow local and Championship Tour surfer Macy Callaghan showed her knowledge of maxing Central Coast conditions, eliminating recent Mad Mex Maroubra Pro Champion India Robinson from the event. Callaghan will meet Merimbula's Freya Prumm in the semi-finals.
Macy Callaghan meets Freya Prumm in the Semifinals tomorrow - WSL / Ethan Smith
Reigning Vissla Central Coast Pro Champion Matt Banting made it clear he was eager to claim back-to-back titles here at Avoca, cementing his spot into the semi-finals. Banting smashed out an eclectic mix of backside snaps and carves to earn his spot into the final day of the event.
" Avoca Beach is a happy place for me, I've made the finals here the last two years and I'm through to the Semi's now, it feels great" said Banting.
"The surf today is fantastic and I'm so glad they made the call to keep running on the peak of this swell.
Matt Banting will look to defend his title tomorrow - WSL / Ethan Smith
Reef Heazelwood closed out the day with a massive performance that saw him eliminate Championship Tour surfer Ryan Callinan. Heazelwood's performance included the days highest scoring ride of 9.5 due to a series of superb top-to-bottom critical turns on some very large waves.
"Ryan is probably my absolute favourite surfer so to take him down in waves like that feels awesome" said Heazelwood.
"As a QS3000 this event is really important to me and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's finals."
Reef Heazelwood was the standout today - WSL / Ethan Smith
Other men's semi-finalists include Kyuss King and Jacob Willcox who were both standouts on what was a magnificent day of high-performance surfing
Finals day tomorrow and like this entire event the waves should deliver with action beginning early at 8am and finals expected to be completed by around midday. Don't miss the action live on www.worldsurfleague.com.
Thumping Swells at Avoca Beach Delivers Fantastic Surf at the Vissla and Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro's
WSL
Thumping swells bombarded Avoca Beach today for the high seeded rounds of both the Vissla Central Coast Pro and Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro. Six foot plus with plenty of eight-feet rogue sets saw the event move south along this superb beach to take advantage of an excellent left peeling bank that handled the solid swells.
Local Central Coast surfer Molly Picklum continued to build on the upward trajectory that she'd built over the course of her earlier Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro, taking out her quarterfinal heat. In the relatively slow heat, the young natural-footer found a handful of punchy lefthanders - and one spectacular wipeout - to earn a respectable 9.00 two-wave heat total and eliminate 2020 event champion Sarah Baum from competition. A semi-final appearance here at Avoca means Picklum will jump current APAC QS rankings leader Bronte Macauley on the year's rankings. Molly will meet current world number three Sally Fitzgibbons in tomorrow's semi-finals.
"The waves out there were definitely tricky," said Picklum. "The backwash was super hard to negotiate and you had to really time your turns before the waves closed out. It was easy to see how you could get lost out there with those sets. Thankfully, I found those few waves and got through."
Fellow local and Championship Tour surfer Macy Callaghan showed her knowledge of maxing Central Coast conditions, eliminating recent Mad Mex Maroubra Pro Champion India Robinson from the event. Callaghan will meet Merimbula's Freya Prumm in the semi-finals.
Reigning Vissla Central Coast Pro Champion Matt Banting made it clear he was eager to claim back-to-back titles here at Avoca, cementing his spot into the semi-finals. Banting smashed out an eclectic mix of backside snaps and carves to earn his spot into the final day of the event.
" Avoca Beach is a happy place for me, I've made the finals here the last two years and I'm through to the Semi's now, it feels great" said Banting.
"The surf today is fantastic and I'm so glad they made the call to keep running on the peak of this swell.
Reef Heazelwood closed out the day with a massive performance that saw him eliminate Championship Tour surfer Ryan Callinan. Heazelwood's performance included the days highest scoring ride of 9.5 due to a series of superb top-to-bottom critical turns on some very large waves.
"Ryan is probably my absolute favourite surfer so to take him down in waves like that feels awesome" said Heazelwood.
"As a QS3000 this event is really important to me and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's finals."
Other men's semi-finalists include Kyuss King and Jacob Willcox who were both standouts on what was a magnificent day of high-performance surfing
Finals day tomorrow and like this entire event the waves should deliver with action beginning early at 8am and finals expected to be completed by around midday. Don't miss the action live on www.worldsurfleague.com.