Watch: Jordy Smith Walks Us Through His First CT Win In 8 Years - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

1630 Views
37 years young. Photo: Aaron Hughes/WSL

Watch: Jordy Smith Walks Us Through His First CT Win In 8 Years

Is the 37-year-old Modern Collective alumnus doing his best surfing ever?

elsewhere // Apr 21, 2025
Words by Christian Bowcutt
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Jordy Smith’s win last week at the Surf City El Salvador Pro was significant for him for two main reasons:

(1) It was Jordy’s first CT win in eight years. His last victory was the 2017 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.

(2) It’s the first time in 41 years that two South Africans surfed in a CT final together.

“To be a part of that history with Matty [McGillivray] is something I’ll never forget and to make a final — let alone win — on one of my dad’s boards a dream come true,” Jordy said. “It feels like yesterday I was the youngest on Tour, and now, I’m the oldest. Being older comes with its challenges — none harder than leaving my young family at home. I’m so lucky to have an incredible wife holding it down. Words can’t express how grateful I am. You are the real champ.”

41 years later… two South Africans on the podium.

Classy words from the elder statesman on Tour.

Jordy is 37, and according to science, a person’s muscle strength begins to decline from 3% – 8% every decade, starting at age 30. Though, if someone is active and does resistance training, those numbers can be lowered and sometimes reversed.

Thanks to Jordy’s gym, surf, and diet regimen, it looks like he’s mined the Fountain of Youth. In the clip above, you’ll see Jordy surfing perhaps the best he’s ever surfed. Sure, it’s hard to surf like “Rodeo” Jordy, or Kai Neville Jordy, or even Stab In The Dark Jordy at three-foot Punta Roca, but all the Jordy we know and love is still there.

And with Jordy at Bells as we speak — sitting at World #5 — at the event he won at eight years ago and suits his surfing well, a long-awaited Jordy Smith world title isn’t out of the question.

If it happens, it’ll be one the best stories in surfing.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part Two

A few more foam craftsmen worth keeping on your radar.

Jul 14, 2025

Watch: Rip Curl Mobilises Its Teenage Army In ‘Dunno’

A 30-minute surf film by Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet.

Jul 14, 2025

There’s A New Number One Surfer In The World

And it feels so right.

Jul 13, 2025

Controversial Opinion: No One Needs To Yoga In Boardshorts

8 Trunks for the traditionalist.

Jul 13, 2025

Stab Edit Of The Year: Sam Piter Stars in ‘Rogue DNA’.

French blood, thick water.

Jul 13, 2025

Matty McG Skydives Into CT Heat, But Jordy’s Still The Main Event

A full day of heats at J-Bay, and only one shark warning.

Jul 12, 2025

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025
Advertisement