There were magical moments throughout finals day at Bells Beach, which showcased the career finale for Mick Fanning as he almost managed to bring his professional surfing memoir full circle.
Fanning had the hearts of all the spectators, as well as just about every competitor, past and present. Everyone wanted to see him ring the bell for a fifth time and to move on to the next stage of his life with that storybook sendoff.
It almost came to fruition as Fanning first took down Owen Wright in the quarterfinals, then topped Patrick Gudauskas in the semifinals to set up a championship heat with Italo Ferreira. The Brazilian managed to get the best of Fanning and picked up his first career Championship Tour win in his fourth season on tour.
With the seconds ticking away and the result determined, Fanning paddled over to Ferreira, who was already showing all the emotions of happiness, relief, disbelief and gratitude. The two embraced and though Fanning would have clearly loved to ring that bell once more, he was happy for his deserving opponent. Ferreira battled through an injury-
ravaged 2017 and now looks to be in top form, ready to challenge for a world title.
For Fanning, having the opportunity to be on the podium and ring the runner-up bell seemed to be even more than he could have asked for. Everything about his run at the Rip Curl Pro seemed magical, even in a final defeat. He showed that he can still be his dominant self and his legacy continues to peak with each passing year, contest, even wave. Though they won’t have to worry about him in the world title picture any longer, even his peers have been vocally sad to see him go. The level of respect and admiration he’s attained is second to none and the sport is losing one of its legends.
The women’s event also had major excitement right down to its closing moments. Tatiana Weston-Webb was hoping for her second career CT victory and came extremely close to that accomplishment.
Her finals day started with a decisive semifinal win over Silvana Lima,
setting up a final heat with Stephanie Gilmore. It was a contrast of styles and experience that showed both the depth and evolution of the women’s tour. Gilmore performed beautifully, catching just three waves but making the most of each for a 14.17 two-wave total.
Tati was more the workhorse and didn’t put together her best efforts until the end of the session. Needing a 6.80 in the final moments and without priority, Weston-Webb found a solid wave that Gilmore allowed her to take. As Tati crushed the lip, tagged a beautiful float and rode the wave out for one final vertical maneuver, it seemed like a potentially huge mistake by Gilmore to not take that ride for herself.
The judges took their time analyzing every aspect of the wave and the score didn’t come through until Tati was already at the stairs to head up to the athletes’ area. When it was announced as a 6.57, she gave a smile and still seemed to be pleased with her result. The second-place finish positions her in fifth place for the season, while Gilmore takes the yellow jersey off of Lakey Peterson heading into Margaret River.
The excitement was palpable all day and hopefully that carries over into the final event on the Australian leg for 2018. The Margaret River Pro opens up on Tuesday and while we may not see Fanning’s name in the draw, it’s just another reminder that change, evolution and adaptation are always among us, even in sports.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com
