The 2012 Hurley Pro, Lowers – day one

“I’ve got to be honest, I’m not surprised it was a slow one because I had Taylor Knox in my heat,” said Kelly after his heat at the Hurley Pro, Lowers today. “He’s had the most restarts ever at Trestles before for some reason. I wanted to win that first one because I haven’t been surfing that much lately. I surfed all day yesterday and I’m kind of tired today.” Kelly took yesterday to get his quiver dialled and, though he doesn’t usually have luck on quads at Lowers, he thinks this year might be different. “I’m looking for whatever everyone else is – just a fresh feeling and something that feels natural under your feet. I love the four-fins, but generally they don’t work that well at Lowers for me. I don’t know why that is, they tend to work better in hollower waves for me, but I rode a quad yesterday and it felt good so I’m sticking with it.”

It worked today, anyhow, since Kelly won his first round heat. Another round one heat win this morning went to Mick Fanning, currently leading the world title ratings. “The race is really tight,” said Mick. “With everyone counting a few good results and in a really good rhythm at the moment, Joel, Kelly, John John, Taj, you’ve got to just keep trying and just keep plugging away.” Mick’s also aware of his competition, and who to be worried about. “You’ve got to just look at track records and Kelly is probably the gnarliest guy, he just knows the wave so well. Then there are guys like John John, and Kolohe lives here and surfs amazing out here, so those are probably the main guys I look out for.”

One person Mick didn’t mention, but who was today’s standout, was Yadin Nicol. A 17.57 combined heat total is a good way to start an event. “It’s the first time I’ve won a Round one heat this year, so it feels good,” said Yades. “The waves are really fun and I’m just stoked to finally get on an open face. I started off pretty shaky, I slipped on that very first wave. I had a section on that next wave and thought I’d do a little air and Owen can get 8s and 9s in his sleep so on that last wave and I was just lucky to get it. This year hasn’t really been too kind to me and it was fun out there.”

Though the swell’s looking to fade tomorrow, you never can tell, so tune in here just in case.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.30, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.10, Brett Simpson (USA) 7.94
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.00, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.57, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 7.37
Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.66, Tiago Pires (PRT) 10.90, Taylor Knox (USA) 8.10
Heat 4: Dusty Payne (USA) 12.47, Kai Otton (AUS) 12.00, John John Florence (HAW) 9.00
Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.16, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.87, Evan Geiselman (USA) 12.50
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.60, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.60, Conner Coffin (USA) 12.16
Heat 7: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 17.57, Owen Wright (AUS) 17.17, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.67
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.20, Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.63, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 8.00
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.20, Kolohe Andino (AUS) 13.30, Jeremy Flores (PYF) 12.70
Heat 10: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 16.50, Adam Melling (AUS) 13.57, Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.66
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.30, Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.87, Heitor Alves (BRA) 13.83

UPCOMING HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Conner Coffin (USA)
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Evan Geiselman (USA)
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 6: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 7: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 9: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 12: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)