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Chris Ward wins the 2012 Rip Curl Cup, Padang Padang

After winning the Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang last night, Chris Ward dropped his knee on the podium and flashed a ring at his girlfriend. As if winning the event with a 10-point ride (which he scooped in the last two minutes) wasn’t enough, Wardo’s now also engaged. ”I asked her before we came here, and I got her family’s blessing,” he says. “I bought the ring and was thinking, how should I propose? I told myself if I won this contest I was gonna do this right here on the stage. So I guess it was meant to be.”

Ain’t that sweet? But, uh, how about winning surfing’s “Ultimate tuberiding contest”? Needing an 8.5 to take the cherry, Wardo was gifted a wave that’d spit him into the channel for more than enough points. ”I knew I had it,” he says. “I knew it was an 8.5 for sure. Last year I had an onshore heat and didn’t even get barrelled and lost in the first round. Today it was a completely different story. I was feeling it all day out there. This year Padang gave me the waves.”

Everything’s coming up Wardo.

Photographer profile

Nate Lawrence

Nathan Lawrence, 29, surfs with more power than a lot of the pros he shoots. Don’t let him tell you otherwise – Stab spies have seen firsthand. He throws stones, we tells ya, the kind that break bones! Nate’s tough – he loves shooting in Canada, out in the cold, with the bears. In fact, Nate’s favourite-ever photo is an empty barrel shot that he took. But, he does enjoy shooting surfers, and one of his favourites is based on personality. “I really like shooting with Chippa (Chris Wilson). Mostly because he’s such a great human.” So, what makes good photography to Nate? Perhaps not a certain image, but more everything else that comes with it: “Being able to be in the right spot at the right time and capture that split second of raw, unfiltered emotion.”

More photos from Nate Lawrence