Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons triumph in opening affairs at Nike US Open of Surfing
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore and her compatriot Sally Fitzgibbons advanced to the third round of 2012 Women’s Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour after clinching victories in their respective Round 1 heats that went down at
the Huntington Beach in California, America, on Tuesday, July 31.
While Gilmore claimed top honours in the third heat, her fellow countryperson Rebecca Woods and Hawaii’s Dax McGill finished in second and third position respectively, which let to their relegation into the second round.
The fourth heat saw Brazil’s Jacqueline Silva finished just behind Fitzgibbons in second place, while New Zealand’s Paige Hareb rounded out the bottom position. Both the surfers were consequently relegated to the second round, having to surf again to earn
their place in Round 3.
Gilmore, the freshly-crowned five-time ASP Women’s World Champion, has been on a roll since the start of the season in February and she continued to exhibit a ferocious form at the final stop of women’s elite tour.
Pitted against Woods and McGill in a battle for the Round 3 spot, the 24-year-old Australian locked her first business-wave to post a 7.67 on the scoreboard. Collecting a 5.83-point ride in the final minutes of the heat, she finished with a heat-total of
13.50 points
“I guess it feels more patriotic because the Olympics are on and I feel like I need to bring home a win for Australia,” Gilmore said. “It’s pretty tough out there, I felt like I was just wiggling to the beach.”
Woods scored a 5.17 off her first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat and backed it up with a 3.63-point ride to finish with an eventual heat-total of 8.80 points, while McGill apparently struggled to find her rhythm throughout the course of
the battle and eventually had to settle for a heat-total of 5.73 points.
The fourth heat saw Fitzgibbons, current No.2 on the Women’s ASP World Championship Tour, put on an impressive performance to get the better of her two rivals, namely Silva and Hareb. The Australian phenom scored a 6.33 off her first business-wave and backed
it up with a 7.60-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 13.93 points, which held up until the end to see her through to victory.
Silva collected a couple of scores in the six-point range to finish with a heat-total of 12.87 points, while Hareb finished third after registering a heat-total of 10.56 points, which included a 5.33 and 5.23-point ride.
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