Cruise over to Lower Trestles on any given day of the year, absolutely pumping or dead flat, and you’re bound to come across some of the best surfing talents in the world. You might even argue the place hosts more casual CT pro sightings than a December bike ride along Ke Nui road. And that’s certainly a safe bet to make right now, as the World Surf League is set to run its second-ever Rip Curl WSL Finals and name a brand new (or potentially a repeat) World Champion for 2022.
Filipe Toledo, Carissa Moore, Jack Robinson, Johanne Defay, Ethan Ewing, Tatiana Weston Webb, Italo Ferreira, Stephanie Gilmore, Kanoa Igarashi, and Brisa Hennessy are on deck for a big day. And just like any other World Tour stop throughout the year, each athlete has been in town ahead of their first heat getting better acquainted with the competition venue: the lineup at Lowers. Igarashi grew up nearby in Huntington and has pointed out that there isn’t much to learn about the wave itself. It’s not like Teahupo’o or Pipe, where competitors need to gain some familiarity and comfort with the reef. No, at Trestles you just make an annoying, and sometimes painful, low-tide dance over rocks and treat the wave as it is: surfing’s best skate park.
Here are Jack Robinson, Kanoa Igarashi, and Brisa Hennessy doing just that ahead of the big day.
