While the 2018 Championship Tour (CT) doesn't start until March 11 with the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, a handful of CT surfers were competing at Sebastian Inlet last week. There, at the Ron Jon Florida Pro pres by Sunshine State Florida Lager, a Qualifying Series (QS) event worth 6,000 points, they were sharpening their competitive games and building their backup plans for requalification. It was a perfect opportunity to take stock of where a handful of the world's best are heading as the new season kicks off. Here's are some of the takeaways.
Silvana Lima is just one of the CT women who has what it takes to break through to the Top 10 this year. Case in point: Her win at Trestles in September.
Tatiana Weston-Webb
Weston-Webb had a tough third year on Tour in 2017, relatively speaking. If anything, taking a little pressure off of herself might make for more fun -- and better results -- this year. - WSL / Kelly Cestari
This Kauaian powerhouse has been pegged as a World Title contender since her rookie year, back in 2015. And for the first two years she gave the top brass on the women's tour a run for their surfing money. But then 2017 happened. Weston-Webb opened her year with a string of ninth-place finishes, and wrapped things up at World No. 10. For some surfers, finishing just above the ranking cutoff line would bring a big sigh of relief. But those surfers are not Weston-Webb, whose self-confidence in surfing is akin to that of the fictional Lady Bird in the canon of awards films. For her, most likely leaving the perfect reef breaks of her home turf in Hawaii for the inconsistent stuff of Sebastian Inlet last week was designed to shake off some vacation cobwebs, as well as to get a head start on a potential 2018 backup plan. Her fifth-place finish did a bit of both, while undoubtedly supplying her with just the right amount of frustration-filled fuel.
Keely Andrew
Keely Andrew hit a personal best at the Swatch Pro Trestles in September. Now, it's time for some repeat performances.
This Australian wunderkind's journey has been more typical of early-career CT surfers. She arrived on Tour in 2016 with a four-year plan and, according to Andrew, everything is on track. Unlike some other rookies, Andrew is reticent to announce her intentions of winning a World Title. You can bet she has her sights set on one, but she's taking things one season at a time. So far, Andrew's gone from finishing at World No. 14 in 2016 to World No. 11 at the end of 2017. Still just shy of requalifying through her CT rank, but an impressive year-over-year improvement. Her breakthrough last season came in September, at the Swatch Pro at Trestles, when she finished runner-up -- her best result yet. With a fifth-place finish in Florida, she's on to her next goal: making the top 10.
Silvana Lima
Like Andrew, Lima hit a high note at Trestles in September, with her first CT win in seven years.
The oldest woman on the Championship Tour, at age 33, Lima is a survivor. She has qualified for the elite CT an incredible three times, battling a knee injury and financial hurdles all the while. But one thing she didn't suffer from was a loss of faith in herself. Like Keely Andrew, Lima found her footing at Trestles last season, winning the event in commanding fashion. Unfortunately for Lima, despite a strong second half of 2017 she still had to requalify through the QS. This year, she's hoping to remedy that with some momentum. Her fifth-place finish in Florida is a decent start, and should giver her all the comfort she needs to stay loose at Snapper Rocks.
Bronte Macaulay
After a rough go in 2017 in terms of CT events, Macaulay had a breakout result at December's Maui Women's Pro and carried that momentum straight to Florida. Hopefully, she'll fly with as carry-on, all the way to Snapper Rocks. - WSL / Kelly Cestari
The daughter of former pro and Western Australia icon Dave Macaulay, Bronte has had a rough two years on the CT, slogging through strings of painful, 13th- and 9th-place finishes (which is to say, last, and second-to-last). But starting at the Maui Women's Pro this past December, something may have clicked. At Honolua Bay, Macaulay finished in third place, her best yet in the big leagues. Last week she backed that up with a runner-up finish to local hero Caroline Marks in Florida. Considering Marks' home field advantage, that's quite the coup Macaulay just pulled. Her task now is to take that momentum back to Australia.
Coco Ho
Coco Ho, at the Ron Jon event last week. - WSL / John Ferguson
For the better part of the past decade -- seven years, to be exact -- Coco Ho has held her own on the elite women's tour. But back in 2014 she started to slip, her year-end rankings dipped below No. 10 on the Championship Tour, and they have yet to bounce back. Like the other women on this list, she has had flashes of brilliance, like her third-place finish Huntington's US Open in August. But she could use a little more fire in the belly to bring it every time. She bombed out early in Florida, which didn't help her cause. So what does Coco want in 2018? We'll all find out when Round One begins in six weeks' time.
Caroline Marks
Look out, CT surfers. Here comes Caroline Marks -- and she just won her first QS contest of the year. - WSL / John Ferguson
Ostensibly, Caroline Marks -- the ingénue who, at 15, is the youngest person ever to qualify for the CT -- has just three things to do this year: Watch, learn, and requalify, any way she can. And in a recent interview, just before she smashed the competition to win the Ron Jon event, she brushed off the idea that she feels nervous about such a big spotlight, at such a young age. Well -- not too nervous, anyway. Yes, there are nerves. But no, nothing can take away the history she's making simply by showing up. If she can keep that confidence close, on a slow-burn all year long, she will be just fine.
Paige Hareb
Paige Hareb has worked for three long years to get back to the elite-level tour. You can bet that she, perhaps more than anyone else this year, will be working overtime to make sure she stays there. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
The sole New Zealander on either CT, Paige Hareb is a returnee to the bright lights of the Championship Tour -- and therefore, perhaps more motivated than anyone to go big and, most of all, not fall off again. When she made the cut by the skin of her teeth at the final women's QS of 2017, there was no more holding back. "As soon as the heat finished I just bawled my eyes out," she told Stuff.co.nz. "It's been three years of hard work but I've achieved my dream." So far this year, Hareb is off to a solid start. Like some of her peers in this piece, she, too, finished in fifth-place, which sets her up for a potential fall-back for requalification.
That all said, there is a long season ahead on both the CT and the QS. And it's only barely begun.
Catch all Top 16 women of the CT and one wildcard compete at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast live on the WSL, from March 11 - 22.
These Women Are Getting a Head Start on 2018
Anna Dimond
While the 2018 Championship Tour (CT) doesn't start until March 11 with the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, a handful of CT surfers were competing at Sebastian Inlet last week. There, at the Ron Jon Florida Pro pres by Sunshine State Florida Lager, a Qualifying Series (QS) event worth 6,000 points, they were sharpening their competitive games and building their backup plans for requalification. It was a perfect opportunity to take stock of where a handful of the world's best are heading as the new season kicks off. Here's are some of the takeaways.
Tatiana Weston-Webb
This Kauaian powerhouse has been pegged as a World Title contender since her rookie year, back in 2015. And for the first two years she gave the top brass on the women's tour a run for their surfing money. But then 2017 happened. Weston-Webb opened her year with a string of ninth-place finishes, and wrapped things up at World No. 10. For some surfers, finishing just above the ranking cutoff line would bring a big sigh of relief. But those surfers are not Weston-Webb, whose self-confidence in surfing is akin to that of the fictional Lady Bird in the canon of awards films. For her, most likely leaving the perfect reef breaks of her home turf in Hawaii for the inconsistent stuff of Sebastian Inlet last week was designed to shake off some vacation cobwebs, as well as to get a head start on a potential 2018 backup plan. Her fifth-place finish did a bit of both, while undoubtedly supplying her with just the right amount of frustration-filled fuel.
Keely Andrew
This Australian wunderkind's journey has been more typical of early-career CT surfers. She arrived on Tour in 2016 with a four-year plan and, according to Andrew, everything is on track. Unlike some other rookies, Andrew is reticent to announce her intentions of winning a World Title. You can bet she has her sights set on one, but she's taking things one season at a time. So far, Andrew's gone from finishing at World No. 14 in 2016 to World No. 11 at the end of 2017. Still just shy of requalifying through her CT rank, but an impressive year-over-year improvement. Her breakthrough last season came in September, at the Swatch Pro at Trestles, when she finished runner-up -- her best result yet. With a fifth-place finish in Florida, she's on to her next goal: making the top 10.
Silvana Lima
The oldest woman on the Championship Tour, at age 33, Lima is a survivor. She has qualified for the elite CT an incredible three times, battling a knee injury and financial hurdles all the while. But one thing she didn't suffer from was a loss of faith in herself. Like Keely Andrew, Lima found her footing at Trestles last season, winning the event in commanding fashion. Unfortunately for Lima, despite a strong second half of 2017 she still had to requalify through the QS. This year, she's hoping to remedy that with some momentum. Her fifth-place finish in Florida is a decent start, and should giver her all the comfort she needs to stay loose at Snapper Rocks.
Bronte Macaulay
The daughter of former pro and Western Australia icon Dave Macaulay, Bronte has had a rough two years on the CT, slogging through strings of painful, 13th- and 9th-place finishes (which is to say, last, and second-to-last). But starting at the Maui Women's Pro this past December, something may have clicked. At Honolua Bay, Macaulay finished in third place, her best yet in the big leagues. Last week she backed that up with a runner-up finish to local hero Caroline Marks in Florida. Considering Marks' home field advantage, that's quite the coup Macaulay just pulled. Her task now is to take that momentum back to Australia.
Coco Ho
For the better part of the past decade -- seven years, to be exact -- Coco Ho has held her own on the elite women's tour. But back in 2014 she started to slip, her year-end rankings dipped below No. 10 on the Championship Tour, and they have yet to bounce back. Like the other women on this list, she has had flashes of brilliance, like her third-place finish Huntington's US Open in August. But she could use a little more fire in the belly to bring it every time. She bombed out early in Florida, which didn't help her cause. So what does Coco want in 2018? We'll all find out when Round One begins in six weeks' time.
Caroline Marks
Ostensibly, Caroline Marks -- the ingénue who, at 15, is the youngest person ever to qualify for the CT -- has just three things to do this year: Watch, learn, and requalify, any way she can. And in a recent interview, just before she smashed the competition to win the Ron Jon event, she brushed off the idea that she feels nervous about such a big spotlight, at such a young age. Well -- not too nervous, anyway. Yes, there are nerves. But no, nothing can take away the history she's making simply by showing up. If she can keep that confidence close, on a slow-burn all year long, she will be just fine.
Paige Hareb
The sole New Zealander on either CT, Paige Hareb is a returnee to the bright lights of the Championship Tour -- and therefore, perhaps more motivated than anyone to go big and, most of all, not fall off again. When she made the cut by the skin of her teeth at the final women's QS of 2017, there was no more holding back. "As soon as the heat finished I just bawled my eyes out," she told Stuff.co.nz. "It's been three years of hard work but I've achieved my dream." So far this year, Hareb is off to a solid start. Like some of her peers in this piece, she, too, finished in fifth-place, which sets her up for a potential fall-back for requalification.
That all said, there is a long season ahead on both the CT and the QS. And it's only barely begun.
Catch all Top 16 women of the CT and one wildcard compete at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast live on the WSL, from March 11 - 22.
Caroline Marks
Featuring Jordy Smith, Gabriel Medina, Tyler Wright, George Pittar, Sawyer Lindblad, Caroline Marks, Samuel Pupo, Griffin Colapinto, Ethan
A battle of the Tour's best backhanders between reigning World Champ Caroline Marks and World Title threat Tatiana Weston-Webb with Marks
Caroline Marks raised the bar at Winki with an excellent 8.67 to drive her campaign into the Quarterfinals over Australia's own Sophie
Caroline Marks bests the Opening Round here at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Bonsoy.
Featuring Griffin Colapinto, Jack Robinson, Samuel Pupo, Tyler Wright, Caroline Marks, John John Florence, Italo Ferreira, Matthew
Roxy Pro Gold Coast
Watch how the famed right-point Superbank is created and maintained at Snapper Rocks.
After six weeks Down Under, how is the 2018 Championship Tour shaping up?
Nikki Van Dijk vs. Coco Ho vs. Sage Erickson
Sally Fitzgibbons vs. Paige Hareb vs. Silvana Lima
Stephanie Gilmore vs. Macy Callaghan vs. Bronte Macaulay