Simpson makes presence felt at Lower Trestles
The World Surf League made a cute little video using many of the world’s top-ranked surfers “welcoming” Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson back to a World Championship Tour event at Lower Trestles.
Simpson, a six-year WCT veteran, failed to qualify for the tour this season but qualified for the Hurley Pro at Trestles as a wild card. In the video, the surfers welcomed Simpson back but warned of his ability to potentially shake things up in the race for the world championship.
Little did they know they were spot on. Hawaii’s John John Florence and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson, ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the WCT going into the Hurley Pro, were two of those on the video who were directly eliminated by Simpson.
Simpson, surfing free and like he had nothing to lose, took out Wilkinson in Round 2 and Florence in Round 3. In Round 5, he beat No. 13 Michel Bourez of Tahiti to reach the quarterfinals.
In the quarters, though, Simpson ran into South Africa’s Jordy Smith, who beat Simpson and eliminated him, finishing in equal-fifth place.
“Going into the event I knew I was drawing a top 2 seed for Rounds 1 to 3, so I knew I was going to have to perform well and have a few breaks go my way,” Simpson said. “That’s kind of what heat surfing is anyway. Most the time whoever gets the better waves wins the heat. It’s pretty plain and simple but very complicated at the same time when you’re dealing with getting it done in 30 minutes. But I felt most my heats went as planned.”
Against Wilkinson in Round 2, Simpson started slowly, posting three scores in the two-point range — definitely not enough to win a heat. But he got some waves late in the heat, and won it in the final few minutes with a 6.87 and 6.93.
“That was a scary one at the start,” Simpson said. “Made some bad choices early, but I freed up a lot at the end. I was disappointed with my score on my 6.87, threw the kitchen sink at it and wasn’t rewarded that well. So that’s why I feel Wilko’s final score came under the requirement. He should have needed more than a 6.9.”
If the heat win against Wilkinson didn’t open some eyes, the win against Florence certainly did. It was different in that Simpson got a big score early (8.33) and put some pressure on Florence, who had reached the world’s No. 1 spot for the first time in his career.
“It’s always about wave selection, don’t let people fool you,” Simpson said. “I’ve done this too long to get into that debate. Neither of us got great waves. I turned a 5 into an 8.33 and then got the next best wave for a 6.83. John had time but nothing came. That’s the way the cookie has crumbled on me most the time.”
In the heat against Bourez, both surfers scored early 7s, but Simpson pulled off.
Now about that Michel heat. Both got 7s early in the heat, then Simpson pulled off an 8.00 late, and Bourez couldn’t match it.
“Yeah, that heat was a lot of fun for me,” Simpson said. “I felt really free and just caught a lot of waves. I knew he was going to be patient and pick the bigger ones. Lucky for me he only got one.”
Against Smith, Smith got to waves in the 7-range and Simpson couldn’t do better than a 5.5.
“I got iced a bit with priority and ended up making a poor decision and surfed the wave even worse,” Simpson said. “And from then on I was in a bit of a hole.”
So with his job at Lowers complete, Simpson will move back to the Qualifying Series in an effort to get back on the WCT. His next event would be the Prime-10,000 Cascais Billabong Pro in Portugal, starting Sept. 24.
“I feel great, definitely take some confidence into Europe for the prime event in Portugal,” he said, noting that he didn’t need his performance at Lowers to know he still belongs on the WCT. “I’ve always believed I belong there. Nothing has changed there. It’s just another great result for me.”
Kanoa is 13th again
Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi is being consistent, if nothing else.
For the seventh consecutive WCT contest, Igarashi won at least one heat but finished an equal-13th. He won his Round 1 heat, beating No. 5 Julian Wilson and Ryan Callinan, both from Australia, and advancing to Round 3.
But in Round 3, an elimination heat, Igarashi lost to Australia’s Josh Kerr.
Conlogue comes up short
Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue, No. 2 in the world going into the Swatch Women’s Pro, lost in Round 4 to Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore and finished an equal-ninth.
Gilmore, a former world champ, ultimately reached the finals heat against Australia’s Tyler Wright, the current No. 1-ranked woman in the world.
Shark sighting
The contest was put on a hold midway through the contest because lifeguards spotted a shark just outside the lineup. But it lasted less than an hour after the shark apparently swam off — or just was hiding real good.
--
JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.