There are five surfers going into Pipe with a shot
at the world title. Each of them comes with their own baggage,
context and metrics…
Generally, my shtick is numbers, not
words. Average heat score, win percentage, event/wave
direction/wave height metrics, yada fucking yada.
(Click here to examine Balyn’s website,
surf-stats.com)
Boring as fuck to most red-blooded surfers 93.67% of the
time.
When I first spoke to Derek about analysing the title race, he
didn’t tell me I’d be following a similar piece by a certain
surf-writer doyen, and which you can read
here.
I’m under no illusions. The numbers always pale in significance
to the broader stories of the surfers themselves. The pros are just
as fragile and flawed as the rest of us and there aren’t many
metrics to reflect that accurately. Watching Kelly reluctantly
coming to terms with his fading success is a gorgeous train wreck
that no data set can accurately replicate.
The numbers do have a place, though.
When I find a stat that complements or even heightens the
broader context of each surfer’s situation, I can offer a more
resounding argument for or against them.
So, here we are.
There are five surfers going into Pipe with a shot at the world
title. Each of them comes with their own baggage, context and
metrics*.
Italo Ferreira
Pipe Win %: 54.55
Pipe Average Heat Score (AHS): 9.19 (11 heats)
Average place at Pipe: 11 (4 events: 13, 13, 5,
13)
Needed to win a title: A Pipe win is the only
way to seal it outright.
Background: Derek’s favourite surfer (and
mine) hadn’t won an event until 2018, when he
proceeded to win three. Italo still found himself out of title
contention due to consistency issues, which he’s improved this
season while still locking in two wins from four finals. Peaking
beautifully through Europe, and wearing the yellow jersey coming
into Pipe, Italo looks like a genuine chance. The problem is, he
hasn’t had any standout performances at heavy reef breaks (his best
has been a single fifth place result at each of the
Pipe/Fiji/Tahiti events and one Box bomb this year).
What to look for at Pipe: There have been
several well-defined World Champion archetypes over the past few
years: the workhorse (Adriano), the gifted natural (John), the
talented contest machine (Mick, Gabriel). Italo isn’t any of these,
or to be fair, maybe he’s all of them, he works hard, he competes
well, he is focused and he’s certainly talented. What’s different
is that none of those traits define him quite like they did the
others. For Italo, who surfs fast, hucks any section, slays coffees
and throws down some of the most entertaining claims on tour, it’s
raw energy that will define his success. A fantastic trait, no
doubt, but the question of whether it will be enough to get him
through the tightest title race in years, at the biggest venue on
tour, will be fascinating to see answered.
Gabriel Medina
Pipe Win %: 75
Pipe AHS: 13.78 (35 heats)
Average place at Pipe: 6.25 (8 events: 5, 9, 13,
2, 2, 13, 5, 1)
Needed to win a title: To finish one
round/place above Italo and not behind any other contenders.
Background: Since 2013, Gabe regularly made
Europe his bitch and cruised to three Pipe finals. But after his
worst-ever France result and a priority mistake in
Portugal, Gabriel’s seemingly inevitable third title
was put on ice. He still has the second best win percentage and
best AHS of all surfers this season, and he has the best record at
Pipe of all the contenders. His error against Caio, while stupid,
did result from him being so fucking hungry to win, a
characteristic of champions. While he has cooled recently, there
are still plenty of positives for Medina heading into the chaos of
Pipe, with most betting agencies keeping him as the favourite to
win this year.
What to look for at Pipe: Could the ice-cold
Medina suffer another uncharacteristic melt? Will he back off with
his hassling strategies and just let his surfing talk? What will
Neymar and his millions of keyboard warriors to do to Gabe’s
opponent if he’s eliminated early? With a solid history at Pipe and
heavy favouritism, Gabe’s real story will be whether he will bounce
back from Europe or continue to end the season with a whimper.
Filipe Toledo
Pipe Win %: 36.84
Pipe AHS: 9.68 (19 heats)
Average place at Pipe: 15 (6 events: 25, 5, 13, 9,
25, 13)
Needed to win a title: He will need a best-ever
result at Pipe. If he wins, and Italo/Gabe don’t make the final,
then he’ll be the 2019 champion. Anything else, and the variables
become all-consuming.
Background: Filipe managed to move beyond his
‘small-wave specialist’ reputation with an increasingly formidable
rail game and solid performances at respectable rights including
J-Bay and Bells. What he hasn’t managed to shake is his reputation
for holding back in juicy waves, especially on his backhand. Poor
efforts in Tahiti and at the Box this year only entrenched the
perceived depth of Filipe’s big wave weakness. It’s increasingly
likely that, if he’s ever going to win a title, he’ll need to wrap
it up in Europe.
What to look for at Pipe: Remember when Pipe
was meant to have been pulled from the tour? Permits and politics
were all stacked against the WSL and there was talk of an alternate
season-ender in friendlier reef breaks off the coast of Western
Sumatra? Filipe must be pining for that alternative reality right
about now. The big question everyone wants to know about Filipe in
this title race is, Will he go? If we get proper Pipe, then all
eyes will be on Pip. At least he’ll be too consumed by the waves to
worry about the title details.
Jordy Smith
Pipe Win %: 52.94
Pipe AHS: 11.43 (23 heats)
Average place at Pipe: 11.89 (9 events: 17, 5, 13,
13, inj, 25, 13, 5, 13, 3)
Needed to win a title: “If Jordy wins the
Pipe Masters and Italo loses before the final, he will win the
Title,” says the WSL. Ain’t that a big ask.
Background: This hyper-talented serial
under-achiever had his best Pipe result last year with a close
semi-final loss to eventual winner Medina. While Jordy’s
consistency this year has been an asset, it’s also a weakness as he
must progress further than his peers to improve his overall total.
He’s peaking at the right time, with a positive result in Portugal
and clutch effort against Kanoa, but Jordy again showed fragility
in the final when presented with a red-hot Italo.
What to look for at Pipe: Jordy won’t have as
much to prove at Pipe as Italo/Filipe/Kolohe. If Backdoor fires, he
could be right there amongst it. But if a competitor drops a 10 on
him, he will need to do more than simply burn them while in a
combination situation. Jordy’s biggest obstacle seems to be between
his ears, so it will be high drama watching to see when/if he’ll
crack.
Kolohe Andino
Pipe Win %: 37.5
Pipe AHS: 9.35 (21 heats)
Average result at Pipe: 17.75 (8 events: 25, 13,
25, 13, 25, 3, 13, 25)
Needed to win a title: Divine intervention.
This sucks for Brother as the big man seems to be working for the
Brazilians. Technically, Kolohe can win if he makes the final at
Pipe. This is good because it doesn’t require him to win an event.
It’s bad because it requires all four of the other contenders to
get, at best, seventeenths (Medina, Filipe and Italo) or ninths
(Jordy). If they progress further, then the numbers get tighter and
tighter. For example, Gabriel or Italo need only a fifth to negate
Kolohe’s result entirely.
Background: After wearing the Yellow Jersey in
Tahiti, Kolohe flatlined with consecutive seventeenths and missed a
title via his one possible avenue: consistency (winning events
doesn’t seem to be his thing). He got thrown a massive bone via
Medina’s European fade, but again managed to snatch defeat from the
jaws of potential victory against fellow title choker Jordy in the
Portugal quarters. His Pipe record smells worse than Griff’s Quik
Pro France wetsuit.
What to look for at Pipe: The only acceptable
outcome for Kolohe would be to pull off an inexplicable and
long-overdue event win. It still wouldn’t guarantee a world title,
but it might be enough to get the monkey (and keyboard hacks like
myself) off his back going into the 2020 season. My biggest
consideration towards Brother at this event is trying to guess
which local wildcard will bring him undone, as I’m looking for a
cheap option to round out my fantasy team.
So, who will win?
The numbers say Medina. If Jordy hadn’t been pantsed by Italo in
the final a few days ago, I’d say he’d have had a good shot. His
numbers would have been slightly better than Italo’s and he would
have had the confidence needed to pull it off. Kolohe’s situation
is too schadenfreude, dependent on the failure of others. Filipe
needs to overcome so many years of well-supported data against him
in big waves. Italo could definitely win, especially if he builds
momentum and starts running off pure adrenaline, but I feel this
may be his cliched ‘lose one before you win one’ year.
So, Medina for 2019.
Italo for 2020.
*All stats taken from my own databases. They vary from some
WSL stats as they only include 2013-2019 data and because the WSL
scores a second place in a three-man heat as a loss.
