Photo: Surfing Champions Trophy
Caio Ibelli says he was “staring at the red dirt” of the Australian Outback just two weeks ago. Whether he’s detailing an exact sequence of events or just speaking in general terms, he admits he was asking himself when he’d see the ocean next. And then a call came with an invitation to the Maldives, and an invitation into what’s become the “world’s most luxurious surf contest,” the Surfing Champions Trophy.
Now, despite his last heat as a professional surfer happening in October of 2024, Caio’s celebrating a contest win once again. The Brazilian won the single fin division, the twin fin division, and on Wednesday, the overall final against Bede Durbidge to become the winner of the 2026 Surfing Champions Trophy.
That whole swing of events for Ibelli in the past two weeks is the kind of storyline you save for a script.
“What I didn’t know was that I would be able to pick surfing back up to where I was two days ago, and I would live the most amazing experience of my whole life with my family,” Ibelli said. “This trip changed my life. It gave me a whole new perspective.”
While the event was gifted with swell right out of the gates and all three divisions were completed in the first three days of the contest window — a first in its 14-year history — Ibelli and Durbidge were forced to sit through a few lay days before they could battle it out in the final. That heat came on the last day of the contest window with rippable, overhead barrels.
Durbidge opted for a thruster. Ibelli, who admitted he hadn’t surfed a thruster since retiring, went with an asymmetrical twin fin.
“Everybody expects me to ride a thruster in these conditions, but I chose to stick with my twin because that’s my thing,” Ibelli said. “That’s who I am.”
Durbidge led through most of the final, which included a lull with the Brazilian holding onto priority.
“I was waiting for a long time, thinking about my chances,” he said. “I was just thinking about it and kind of mentally imagining everything that could happen in a matter of seconds… and it just popped up. It’s just one of those things that happens in competition that you don’t understand, you don’t explain.”
Caio got his wave, racing through two barreling sections and coming out with an 8.33 that flipped the entire heat.
“The competition is super fun, but it’s mainly the week we all get to have, and the conversations with everyone, just soaking in the culture. It’s really, really special,” he said. “Now in two days, I’ll be back on the red dirt. That’s what’s crazy about it. I live such a different reality. But this was the best outcome I could ever imagine. I’m so happy.”
