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Surfing: When the bells ring at Bells Beach
STORY: This is what winners look like. And that’s what it sounds like when professional surfers win the traditional competition in Bells Beach, Australia. In the women’s category, the favorite and local hero, 28-year-old Tyler Wright, easily won the contest on Sunday. In good waves she showed her skills and kept very constant control over her board, the waves and the course of the competition. She had never won here before. Even if she had already been close: “I can’t even put into words what this means to me. It was a long four years and I often wanted to give up. But I worked hard to be here now. And I’m just grateful for the support I’ve had, the love and care. It’s more than a win. And it’s the only event I’ve ever really wanted to win. And here I am, over the moon and beyond thrilled.” In the men’s race, it was 27-year-old Brazilian Filipe Toledo who won the final on Sunday. In strong offshore winds and not too big waves, he put in a solid performance that saw him quite catapulted to the top of the winner’s podium. It was also the first time for him that he was allowed to lift the bell here. Directly after his victory Toledo was quite modest: “I won’t believe it until I let the bell ring! It was always a dream to win this event, so much history, so many special names in this grandstand. And every year we come here there is perfect wave!” The World Surf League will remain in Australia for the next leg. Because as the next tour stop, the professional surfers are getting fit for the Margaret River Pro contest. And the series ends in September in California.
In the World Surf League, the pros stopped at a legendary tour stop and celebrated Tyler Wright and Filipe Toledo as the winners of the competition.