Hawaii has earned its first Team World Championship at the 2024 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship, winning gold medals in both women’s and men’s individual divisions, as well as the team gold medals. Honolua Blomfield (HAW) won her first women’s ISA World Championship, while 2018 World Champion Kai Sallas (HAW) won his second.
Long, clean, three-to-four foot swell lines wrapped into El Sunzal, yet again providing near-perfect conditions for the world’s best longboarders to battle for the gold medals.
The three-time WSL Longboard Champion, Honolua Blomfield (HAW), had previously won the gold medal in the 2013 Open Junior division, beating all of the boys to do so, but had yet to win the women’s gold medal, a goal which she was thrilled to secure today.
Blomfield immediately put pressure on the rest of the field in the Final, opening with a 7.00 right as the horn sounded. Staying active, she soon posted an 8.07 to have a significant lead. After a slow start, 2013 Silver Medalist Rachael Tilly (USA, silver) picked up an 8.17 to put herself in the conversation and leave 2018 Bronze Medalist Natsumi Taoka (JPN, bronze) and 2023 Copper Medalist Zoé Grospiron (FRA, copper) needing large scores. With less than 30 seconds on the clock Tilly caught a wave, needing a 6.90, while Blomfield took the next wave directly behind her. With both surfers waiting on the sand for scores, Tilly earned exactly what she needed, a 6.90, before Blomfield’s score was announced, an 8.43, the highest of the heat and enough to easily secure victory.
“Honestly, I’m at a loss for words,” an emotional Blomfield said. “I really wanted it so bad and for it to come and happen to me, it feels insane.”
“It means a lot (to win the Team World Championship). I was paddling out for my heat and Kai had a 9. He was looking good, you know, so it kind of fired me up more than usual. And then for his heat to end and then get the gold, I was just like, now I have to put my feet in the right places and get the right waves and I can do it too. It really fired me up and inspired me.”
The reigning WSL Longboard Champion Kai Sallas (HAW) is now a two-time ISA World Longboard Champion. Having almost completed his goal of winning the ISA / WSL double world titles in 2018 when he won his first ISA gold medal and placed runner-up in the WSL, Sallas was ecstatic to further solidify his place as the best longboarder in the world by taking out the twin world titles within a few months of each other.
After being knocked out in Main Event Round 4, Sallas had to surf through five repechage heats to gain his way into the Final and the knowledge gained in those extra heats proved beneficial. Catching a wave within the first minute, Sallas delivered a blistering performance, earning the highest single wave score of the event for the men for committed, critical nose-riding. Though fellow finalists Taka Inoue (JPN, silver), 2010 World Champion Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA, bronze), and two-time Bronze Medalist Edouard Delpero (FRA, copper) were also able to open with scores in the high 8-point range, Sallas controlled the rest of the heat, quickly backing up his score and expertly utilizing priority in the final minutes.
“It feels amazing,” Sallas said. “It’s just proof that if you bounce back and put in the hard work and keep trying, no matter how old you are, it’s never too late. Just keep going for it.”
“The waves are insane. It’s the kind of day where if you were just free-surfing you’d pull up and look out there and just be psyching to get out and surf and we get to compete. Big shout out to ISA and Fernando Aguerre for running this amazing event. I really hope that longboarding goes into the Olympics. I think we’re proving that it belongs there.”
ISA President, Fernando Aguerre said:
“Congratulations to the medalists, congratulations to everybody. All you guys go home as champions. You were there, you were part of history. I hope that you bring home wonderful memories of this wonder of nature, El Sunzal, what a beautiful longboard wave.
“Let’s keep our hopes together, let’s agitate on social media, so when the Olympic Committee makes the decision in early 2025 for the final sports for Los Angeles 2028, longboard surfing is included alongside shortboarding. That will be wonderful. We can all do it together.”
RESULTS
Team Rankings
Gold – Hawaii
Silver – Japan
Bronze – France
Copper – Brazil
5. USA
6. Australia
7. England
12. Ireland
The World Surf League (WSL) has announced the wildcards across the 2024 and 2025 Championship Tour (CT). Among the notable wildcard entrants will be World Champions Kelly Slater (USA) and Carissa Moore (HAW), who will add their legendary skills to upcoming competitions on the 2024 CT. The WSL has also announced the 2025 Season Wildcards, who will rejoin the world’s best surfers next year.
2024 SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro and Corona Fiji Pro Wildcards Announced
Kelly Slater (USA), 11-time World Champion, will compete in the 2024 SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro and Corona Fiji Pro. Slater is the most decorated surfer of all time and holds 56 CT event wins, five of which are from Teahupo’o, Tahiti (2000, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2016) and four from Cloudbreak, Fiji (2005, 2008, 2011, 2012). One of the rarest feats in surfing is a Perfect Heat, where a competitor scores two Perfect 10-point rides in one heat. Out of the ten total Perfect Heats in the history of the CT, Slater is responsible for three, with two Perfect Heats in Tahiti (2005, 2016), and one in Fiji (2013). His statistics at these venues make him the surfer to watch as he winds down his competitive career and focuses on the next chapter of his life.
Joining the world’s best surfers in Tahiti will be five-time World Champion Carissa Moore (HAW, above), who accepted the wildcard earlier this year when she announced her break from full-time competition. Vahiné Fierro (FRA), the 24-year-old Tahitian local, has been awarded the second event wildcard. Fierro is a Teahupo’o standout and has two back-to-back third-place finishes at the Tahiti Pro on the WSL CT. The second men’s wildcard will be allocated via the local Tahiti Trials competition, which will take place on May 18 and 19 at Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
The two women’s and one remaining men’s Fiji Pro event wildcards will be determined by the WSL Commissioner’s Office closer to the event.
2025 Season Wildcards Announced: Peterson, Chianca, Gilmore, and Toledo
Lakey Peterson (USA) and João Chianca (BRA, above) have been awarded the WSL Season Wildcards for the 2025 CT. The Season Wildcards will give Peterson and Chianca entry into the first half of the 2025 CT season. Earlier this year, the WSL confirmed Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) and Filipe Toledo (BRA) as the other two WSL Season Wildcards, following their respective announcements of a one-year break from full-time competition. As the Season Wildcards, Gilmore and Toledo will also gain entry to all competitions in the first half of the 2025 CT season.
Peterson missed the Mid-Season Cut by one place after the Western Australia Margaret River Pro last week. She will now return to the CT next season with her wildcard allocation. Since qualifying in 2012, Peterson has only missed the Top 10 three times in her career with six CT victories, including the US Open of Surfing in her rookie year. 2018 marked a major feat for Peterson, earning runner-up to the World Title behind Gilmore, and then finishing third on the World Rankings in 2019. One of California’s icons of the sport, Peterson has helped lead the charge for women’s surfing in her career and paved the way for the likes of Caitlin Simmers, Sawyer Lindblad, and other emerging talents.
In 2023, Chianca led the charge in his sophomore season with three 3rd-place results (Pipe, Sunset, and Margaret River) and a win at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. His overall results qualified him for the WSL Finals, where he finished ranked fourth in the world. The 23-year-old hoped to continue his success this year, but he sustained serious injuries in a practice session at Pipeline ahead of this year’s CT start, causing his withdrawal from all competition during his recovery. Chianca has received medical clearance to compete in this week’s Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro Challenger Series event. He plans to be back in the jersey full-time in 2025.
The WSL Season Wildcards are selected by the WSL Commissioner’s Office following applications from athletes. The wildcard selection process takes into account competitive performance, such as World Titles, CT and Challenger Series rankings, and event results, as well as a medical evaluation if applicable.
“With the rankings for the Mid-season Cut completed, we’ve announced Lakey Peterson, João Chianca, Stephanie Gilmore, and Filipe Toledo as the 2025 WSL Season Wildcards,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL Commissioner. “As established last season, the WSL Rule Book allows for only World Champions and previous WSL Final 5 competitors to be eligible to earn points in the second half of the season as the Season Wildcards. With this in mind, João would be eligible but we are ensuring he has sufficient time in his recovery, and we are excited to welcome him back to full-time competition next year.”
“We’re also excited to announce upcoming event wildcards for the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro in May and the Corona Fiji Pro in August,” continued Miley-Dyer. “We’re proud to have these accomplished and inspiring World Champions back in the draw, with Kelly Slater and Carissa Moore in Tahiti, and Kelly as one of our wildcards for Fiji. We’ll continue to announce our CT event wildcards closer to each competition, but we’re excited to share these new updates before we kick off the back half of the CT in a few weeks.”
Slater will also surf in the first Challenger Series competition, the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro Presented by GWM, which opens on Sunday, April 27, and runs through Saturday, May 4, 2024. The SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown will be the next stop on the 2024 Championship Tour, Stop No. 6 of 10. The competition window opens on Wednesday, May 22, and closes on Friday, May 31, 2024. The event will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL’s broadcast partners. For fans watching in the United States, coverage of the competition’s Quarterfinals and beyond will continue co-exclusively on WorldSurfLeague.com and ESPN+.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
El Salvador once again delivered for day 4 of the 2024 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Longboard Championship, with perfect conditions filling Surf City’s crown jewel, the right point of El Sunzal. Four-to-six foot lines allowed the world’s best longboarders to showcase their skills as they fought to progress into tomorrow’s Finals Day.
Japan was able to set themselves apart on top of the leaderboard, the only team to maintain all four surfers this deep into the draw. Both surfers on their men’s team, Taka Inoue and Kai Hamase, progressed to remain two of the four surfers in the Main Event Final, while Natsumi Taoka made it into the women’s Main Event Final. The 2018 Copper Medalist has been truly enjoying each of her heats, as well as her experience as a part of the team.
“I think teamwork is the best. It’s actually the first time that we’re all staying together in one big house,” Taoka said. “We’re eating meals all the time together, I think it’s worth it. With a 25-minute heat, I feel like I have a lot of time and I was happy to get two really good waves and then make a score. I try not to think about medals. I just try to get really good waves and then focus on performance.”
Hiroka Yoshikawa (JPN) was the only member of Team Japan to be sent to the repechage after an extremely tight women’s Main Event Round 4 heat that saw just 0.37 separating the top three surfers. The two advancing surfers, 2013 Silver Medalist Rachael Tilly (USA) and 2023 Copper Medalist Zoé Grospiron (FRA), had equal 13.00 heat totals, Tilly taking the win on the basis of the highest wave score of the heat, as well as the round, a 7.27. Though a last minute wave from Yoshikawa seemed like it might be enough to keep her in the Main Event, the veteran competitor was sent into repechage along with 2023 Silver Medalist Maria Fernanda Reyes (PER).
The men put their bodies on the line as multiple tight heats drove performance levels right to the end of the extremely long rides that El Sunzal was providing. Japan’s Taka Inoue finished two incredible rides right on the rocks even after Carlos Bahia (BRA) had smashed his board and body by committing to the final section, the pair winning the two heats of men’s Main Event Round 5. The 2023 Silver Medalist, Bahia is determined to go one better in 2024, and was confident after progressing into the Main Event Final, along with Inoue, Edouard Delpero (FRA) and Kai Hamase (JPN).
“First of all I want to thank El Salvador for putting on this great event at El Sunzal,” Bahia said. “I’m in search of that gold medal for me and also for Brazil. I was close enough to taste the gold last year, so that’s why I’m giving it my all now.”
Many big names either fell into repechage or were eliminated after a long day of tight battles. 2019 World Champion Benoit ‘Piccolo’ Clemente (PER) was eliminated early in the day by his protege Sebastian Cardenas (PER), who also fell out of the draw in his next heat. Meanwhile 2018 Gold Medalist and 2023 WSL Champion Kai Sallas (HAW) was sent to repechage by his protege Kaniela Stewart (HAW), who himself is now also in repechage. Sallas posted the highest heat total of the day, 16.50, after a blistering performance in Repechage Round 6 that saw him going blow-for-blow with two-time Silver Medalist Ben Skinner (ENG).
Both Brazilian women, Atalanta Batista and Luana Soares, and both Australian women Tully White and Kirra Molnar, were eliminated, along with event standout, 11-year-old Ginger Caimi (ITA).
The back-to-back defending champion, Alice Le Moigne (FRA), turned in the highest single wave score of the event in her Repechage Round 4 heat after soul-arching her way through a long, critical nose ride that earned her a near-perfect 9.77. Her two wave heat total was also the highest so far for the women, 16.44.
“I’m super happy to surf with that wind, because it was super hard for the girls to surf with the wind (yesterday) because there was so much bump,” Le Moigne said. “I had so much fun out there. I was just thinking about free-surfing, so it was super fun.”
Competition will continue Thursday April 25 at 7 a.m. local time El Salvador live on isasurf.org.
England Skindog through to round four, Englands Ben Howey and Irelands Tom Breen through to rep 5.
Englands Emily Currie and Irelands Bea Greenberg through to womens rep 3.
Beautiful, clean four-to-six foot lines of swell set the stage for an incredible day of longboard surfing that saw high-profile match-ups deliver a full day of exciting action at Surf City El Salvador’s El Sunzal. Main Event Round 3 was completed in both men’s and women’s divisions, while women’s Repechage Rounds 2 and 3 and men’s Repechage Rounds 3 and 4 were also held.
Four teams maintain their status on top of the rankings, each with four surfers still in the draw. France, Brazil and the Philippines are tied with Japan, who has the strongest advantage as the only nation with all four surfers continuing in the Main Event.
he heat of the event so far featured 2023 Bronze Medalist Edouard Delpero (FRA), 2019 Gold Medalist Benoit ‘Piccolo’ Clemente (PER) and WSL Longboard Tour standout Declan Wyton (AUS). The surfers capitalized on the incredible morning conditions, showcasing an impressive range of rail and nose work. The heat totals from all three were amongst the highest of the event so far, with each posting scores well into the excellent range, including the highest single wave score of the event so far (9.23) and highest heat total (17.40) from heat winner Delpero. After a long wait on the sand for final scores, Wyton advanced in second, just 0.03 ahead of Clemente, who was relegated to repechage.
Delpero was able to find his event-high score on the second wave of a set, directly behind Wyton, who took the first wave, in a tense final exchange that left Clemente sitting alone in the lineup with over two minutes left on the clock.
“It was supposed to be a hard heat for sure on paper, but in the water I really know Declan and Piccolo well and I know what they are able to do on the waves,” Delpero said. “I got lucky on the last exchange that flipped to me in a really good position. I knew there was a second one, I was just trying to see what Declan would do and let him make his choice and then when he started paddling I knew there was something bigger behind and hopefully not a third one, you know, just to make sure you close the heat like this. Then when I saw the wave I knew there was a potential line so I’m stoked to surf it through and make the score.”
Multiple strong heats filled out the rest of men’s Main Event Round 3, with highlights coming from Japan’s Kai Hamase and Taka Inoue, along with Kaniela Stewart (HAW), 2023 Copper Medalist Rogelio Esquievel Jr (PHI), and 2010 World Champion Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA).
A challenging bump arrived during the women’s Main Event Round 3 heats, making it hard to find high scores. For the most part experience paid off as 2013 Open Junior Gold Medalist Honolua Blomfield (HAW), 2023 Silver Medalist Maria Fernanda Reyes (PER), 2013 Silver Medalist Rachael Tilly (USA) and 2018 Copper Medalist Natsumi Taoka (JPN) each took heat wins. The exception was back-to-back defending champion Alice Le Moigne (FRA), who was sent to repechage after a strong performance from Sive Jarrard (ASA) saw Le Moigne knocked into third place after the buzzer by Reyes and Jarrard.
Blomfield, the three-time WSL Longboard Champion, found the best of the day, expertly navigating the conditions to earn an 8.00, the highest single wave score for the women, as well as the highest heat total, 12.83.
“I feel like I definitely tend to deal with conditions like these at home,” Blomfield said. “I’ve had to just go for it a lot of my life at Pipeline, for instance, or Pupukea, the big sandbars. I try to go out as big as possible, so I’m used to the bump and backwash. But that was a challenge out there I’ve got to say. I love (competing in the ISA). I think it’s a really cool aspect of team surfing, we don’t get that most of the year. I got the call and I was like, ‘Oh my god, yes, I’ll go, of course.’”
Blomfield’s teammate Kelis Kaleopa’a was the first to be eliminated from the exceptionally strong Team Hawaii. The 2023 WSL World Title runner-up, Kaleopa’a was knocked out in the first heat of the day along with Germany’s Mascha Trietsch by veteran Filipino competitor Daisy Valdez and Mexico’s 16-year-old rising star Coral Bonilla. Bonilla styled her way across the first ride of the day, a large set wave that delivered her multiple critical nose-ride sections to earn a 7.33. Valdez also found a solid set wave, earning an even better 7.40 to take the heat win, the pair moving into Repechage Round 4.
Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Bronze Medalist Lia Diaz (CRC) also found a critical heat win to continue in repechage, as did Emily Currie (ENG) and Anne Albers (NED).
Competition will continue Wednesday April 24 at 7 a.m. local time El Salvador live on isasurf.org.
Late at night, locals whisper through smoke about the Onza. They share stories of brothers, cousins, friends whose friends, cousins, brothers have seen it. The mythical big cat, prowling alone under the moon, leaving just enough of a trace to stoke the lore. This film follows the tracks of another cat in Mexico. Mikey February.
Surfing Mikey February. Film and edit Kevin Jansen.
Music “Kulani Kulani” Written by Eric Gezani Kobane Performed by Penny Penny
