Jordy and Nat Blitz Rippable Margs

Jordy Smith racked up the highest combined total of round three at the Drug Aware Pro today in dreamy, rippable Margaret rights. The big South African opened his account with a huge hook in the pocket, to layback, to closeout float for a 9.17.

“You just get those waves you can really push on, where you’re not feeling restricted or anything,” he said. “And you know, opening up with a nine will let you do that. It just puts you in a relaxed mindset.”

He followed it with another big, smooth wrap, straight into a tube and a final closeout hit for a 9.37. Jords revealed he was feeling it after the biggest Bells result of his career: “I feel great, I feel real good. Bells was somewhere that I felt like I had great performances in the past, but I could never crack the final… when I made the final it was like, finally we’re over the hill.”

Californian Nat Young put up a pair of nines with a brutally precise backside attack to beat Taj Burrow. Taj, as you’re no doubt aware, yesterday announced that he’d be retiring after Fiji. Fellow tour vet Joel Parkinson was more fortunate, throwing down a nine for a tailslide and two critical re-entries to defeat 2014 winner Michel Bourez. Caio Ibelli scored his second upset win in a row over John Florence. The Brazilian stuck a corked grab-rail air reverse into the stiff offshore inside the final minute to get the score – all despite injuring himself earlier in the heat after landing on a rock.

“I thought the pain might not let me surf but I caught another seven and in the last second John John let the wave go, and I landed an air, and took the heat last minute. Thank god, I don’t know where that wave came from.”

Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz, meanwhile, cracked the highlight reel for the second round running, pegging an impeccable top turn to the pocket, followed by a re-entry and a closeout hit for a 9.8 and the win over Jeremy Flores.

“Jeremy went the first one, and I’ve been noticing the second ones come a bit deeper and have a lot more wall,” he said. “I had a lot of speed so I had to go really slow off the bottom, it put me in the perfect spot. I didn’t wanna push too hard but it ended up taking me all the way from the top to the bottom the carve.” The Kauiian revealed that the best bit was just getting a couple of sets away from “34 of the best snakes in the world.”

“I’m stoked to get sets with nobody out,” he said. “You’ve gotta go on tour and battle all these guys, 34 of the best snakes in the world, so I find myself on the inside during a freesurf, not even bothering to waiting for a set, y’know.”

Kolohe Andino stuck one of the better (competition) airs of the year so far, a beautifully wind-assisted near-full rotation alley oop, for the highest single waves score of the day; a 9.83.

“Unfortunately I’ve been nursing two injuries so I don’t really get to freesurf that much,” he said later. “Coming out of a surf pain-free is a win for me at this point.”

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12.00 def. Matt Banting (AUS) 9.27
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.40 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.60
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.90 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 9.80
Heat 4: Nat Young (USA) 18.10 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.77
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.50 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.90
Heat 6: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 15.60 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.50
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.67 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 13.10
Heat 8: Kolohe Andino (USA) 16.10 def. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 11.20
Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18.54 def. Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 14.16
Heat 10: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 17.73 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.20
Heat 11: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 16.27 def. John John Florence (HAW) 15.54
Heat 12: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 12.43 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 8.23

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Round 4 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Joel Parkinson (AUS), Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 2: Nat Young (USA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Kolohe Andino (USA), Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 4: Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Caio Ibelli (BRA), Italo Ferreira (BRA)

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Women’s Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 14.10 def. Keely Andrew (AUS) 6.70
Heat 2: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 11.83 def. Chelsea Tuach (BRB) 9.00
Heat 3: Tyler Wright (AUS) 18.00 def. Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 14.16
Heat 4: Laura Enever (AUS) 10.10 def. Johanne Defay (FRA) 7.36
Heat 5: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.10 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 12.67
Heat 6: Sage Erickson (USA) 15.04 def. Alessa Quizon (HAW) 10.66

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Women’s Round 3 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW), Laura Enever (AUS)
Heat 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA), Malia Manuel (HAW), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)
Heat 3: Carissa Moore (HAW), Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Sage Erickson (USA)
Heat 4: Tyler Wright (AUS), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Bronte Macaulay (AUS)