No El Salvador is a big loss for Jordy Smith. Photo: Andrew Shield//WSL
Jordy Smith will not get a chance to defend his 2025 win in El Salvador. The World Surf League announced that Smith has pulled out of next week’s event due to an unspecified injury, and fellow South African Matt McGillivray will replace him.
For Smith, the injury is a blow to his 2026 campaign. He’s only managed to scrounge together three 17th places and a 9th this season, leaving him 26th in the overall ranking. If he can’t climb up the rankings into the top 22, he won’t qualify for the 2027 Championship Tour, which would probably spell the end of his competitive career — assuming he doesn’t want to enter the Challenger Series at 38 years old.
The right point break of Punta Roca would have been the perfect opportunity for Smith to log a good result and improve his situation. Last season, as part of Smith’s late-thirties renaissance, he defeated McGillivray in the final to end a seven-year drought without a CT win. Then he won another event at Margaret River and earned a spot in the Final 5.
Missing out on El Salvador is going to put Smith behind the eight ball. He’ll need to start stringing together heat wins in the back half of the season if he wants to prolong his nearly two-decade tenure on the CT.
Last season, McGillivray was the last surfer to fall victim to the mid-season cut, even with a finals appearance in El Salvador. In his first return to the CT as an injury replacement, he’ll have to adapt to the new non-elimination format that many have been struggling with. McGillivray will face Ramzi Boukhiam in round one. If he wins, ranking leader Italo Ferreira will be waiting for him in round two.
View this post on Instagram
