Jordy & Steph Victorious at Trestles

Jordy Smith and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) are the 2014 Trestles champs.

In a closely-fought final, Jordy defeated John John Florence (HAW) to win the Hurley Pro at Trestles – his first WCT victory since claiming the 2013 Billabong Rio Pro title in May last year. Meanwhile, Steph whittled away at Sally Fitzgibbons’ ratings lead by winning the Swatch Women’s Pro with a near-perfect heat against her compatriot.

After a clean(ish) start to the final day, conditions became increasingly difficult as the onshore wind ruffled the lips and broke up the lines rolling through at Lowers. This meant that wave choice became even more of a factor than usual, and Jordy picked a peach to kick-off the final in the third minute. Three powerful blasts later and the judges rewarded him with a 9.33 as he grabbed an early lead.

Attacking the waves with power and flow was Jordy’s recipe for success.

John John then caught a flurry of waves in typical JJF style and slowly started pegging back Jordy’s early lead, eventually grabbing two high scores of his own (8.60 & 7.27) to jump in front with eight minutes to spare. However, on his final wave Jordy strung together another series of powerful blasts to back up his first ride and jump back into the lead. John John couldn’t answer back and the final wound down.

“Oh my gosh, the best thing ever!” was Jordy’s elated response after hearing the score (7.17) while waiting in the lineup with Pete Mel. “I want to send a huge shout out to all my boys, everyone in South Africa. To be honest, they’ve been giving me every bit of support this whole week. So now I’m going to go celebrate with my whole family, Trav, Dooma, all the boys, and my beautiful wife.”

Jordy, stoked to be back on the podium.

In the Swatch Women’s Pro, Bianca Buitendag faced Sally Fitzgibbons in the Quarter Finals and looked noticeably out of rhythm as she dug rail and fell on a number of rides with potential. Sally Fitzgibbons was all smiles and dominated the heat and eliminated the South African from the competition. Looking to increase her world rankings lead, Sally then beat Johanne Defay (FRA) in the Semi Finals, before meeting Steph in the Final.

Like Jordy, Steph kicked-off her Final with a massive score. A 9.50 is about as good a start as she could have hoped for, but it got even better with just under five minutes remaining when she locked in a Perfect 10 for an excellently ridden right-hander. Victory at Trestles means that Steph leap-frogs Carissa Moore (HAW), who lead the rankings coming into the event, and moves to second in the ratings just 1 950pts behind Sally Fitzgibbons.

5-time World Champ, Stephanie Gilmore loving that familiar feeling.

Check out all the Heats on Demand, results and highlights from an incredible final day at Trestles on aspworldtour.com

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES RESULTS:

FINAL
1st – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.50pts
2nd – John John Florence (HAW) 15.87pts

SEMI FINALS
Heat 1
1st – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.10pts
2nd – Ace Buchan (AUS) 13.30pts

Heat 2
1st – John John Florence (HAW) 15.10
2nd – Kelly Slater (USA) 14.10

SWATCH WOMEN’S PRO RESULTS:

FINAL
1st – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 19.50pts
2nd – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) – 14.03pts

SEMI FINALS
Heat 1
1st – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.84pts
2nd – Coco Ho (HAW) 13.03pts

Heat 2
1st – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 17.04pts
2nd – Johanne Defay (FRA) 14.66pts