Mateus Herdy Just Qualified For The Championship Tour
And Levi Slawson still has a shot.
Gale force onshore wind, a heavy grey hanging in the air, and two crossed up windswells greeted the beach at Newcastle this morning.
Surfable, just.
At the start of the day, the Dream Tour hopes of five surfers still hung in the balance. Mateus Herdy and Liam O’Brien sat just above the cutline, hoping to cling to their qualification. Levi Slawson and Dimitri Poulos sat just a few heats away from swooping a spot. And Shion Crawford was still an extreme longshot, hoping for an event win to send him to the big leagues.
After a few largely inconsequential heats, it was Shion Crawford and Levi Slawson up against one another in the Round of 16, with Mateus Herdy nervously watching on. Levi needing a semi to qualify, Shion needing a win. Mateus needed either Levi or Dimitri to falter to hold his spot.
10 waves ridden between them and, with two minutes remaining, Levi was looking for a 7.66. Taking off on a milky corner, he stands on the tail and waits… then pumps. The ensuing straight-air-to-end-section combo earned him an 8.17, and sends him to the quarters. Shion’s hopes extinguished. Levi crouched on the beach after the buzzer beater, hardly believing that just one more heat win will take him to the CT.
With Levi’s win, Mateus’ anxieties intensified. Could this be yet another year where he misses out by just a single heat?
The next heat saw Venturan Dimitri Poulos against 17-year old Lucas Cassity. They spent almost the entire heat caught inside. Lucas found a four before Dimitri turned the heat with a pair of dramatic rail gouges. And then, with just a minute remaining, Lucas found a ramp. In similar fashion to the 10-pointer he collected at Ballito, the young Mexican Bottle Rocket champ hucked a massive reverse to the sky. 9.23 points. Dimitri’s dreams dashed — Mateus bathing in a champagne shower.
“I’ve been waiting for so long,” said Mateus, between tears. “There’s been so many injuries, so much not making it by one heat every single year. I never thought I would make it this far. There’s so many people who have helped me so much. Julian [Wilson] and the Rivvia team, everybody from my hometown Florianopolis, my manager Daniel, my coach Leandro, Logan [Dulien] believed in me when it felt like nobody else believed in me.”
It’s been a long time coming. Six years of almost qualifying later, and Mateus Herdy is on the CT. Hard to think of anyone on the Challenger Series more deserving of qualification.
Following that, Callum Robson dropped his own buzzer beater against Jackson Bunch to continue his leap up the rankings, now in 6th after a colossal jump at Pipe. Liam O’Brien’s future still hangs in the balance.
On the women’s side, Sophie McCulloch and Ellie Harrison kept their CT hopes alive by making their R16 heats, while 6 of the top 7 women locked in their spots. Israeli Anat Lelior is the only one who could still be leaped by either of the aforementioned women.
Tune back in tomorrow to tie the final bows.
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