The Best Clips From the Swell So Far, the WSL Will Never Be the Same, and Uncrowded Bali Perfection

17 Jul 2020 1

Mike Jennings

Senior Writer

Sydney wasn't the only place that pumped this week.

COASTALWATCH | THIS WEEK IN SURFING

Ten Things from Surfing & the Internet on the Week That Was July 17 2020

1. Deadman's – The Internet Breaking Tube

If a session was to ever be described as breaking the internet, this one was it. On Wednesday July 15 the swells aligned for Deadman's – the infamous heavy spot at South Manly. Incredible waves were ridden, crowds gathered on headlands, and videos went viral.

"This was hands down the best wave I’ve ever seen ridden in Sydney," says Spencer Frost. The filmmaker camped up over a kilometre away on Queenscliff headland with a 1600mm lens to capture the action. And when underground local charger Chris Lougher pulled into the wave of the day, Spenny had the perfect shot.

The screenshots posted to Instagram that day had some calling it the best wave ever surfed in a city with a long storied history of waveriding. Also out there conquering similarily spectacular waves were the likes of Samson Coulter Joe Keogh, Brock Maunder, Sam Johnes, Matt Dunsmore and more on a crazy day of ocean in Sydney.

2. The WSL Announced Maaaaaassive Changes

A quick break in swell content to take in the wild WSL news that EVERYTHING IS CHANGING to competition surfing going forward.

Nick Carroll has the full report right here, and you should definitely go ahead and read that.

Otherwise, here are the details Nick broke down into a handy list for us:

– 2020 is cancelled — CT and QS.
– 2021 CT season starts this December in Hawaii, with Honolua (women) and Pipe (men).
– Beyond that, all CTs become double headers — women will surf Teahupoo for the first time in over a decade, and G-Land for the first time ever. (See proposed schedule below.)
– ’21 world champs elected via a five-person, one-day surf-off, with the lower seeds competing for a chance to face the top two, and a title deciding best-of-three-heats finale (see system below).
– 2022 focuses on a February to September CT. It also brings in the “Cut”, evicting 12 men and six women from the CT at the mid-season point, five events in.
– QS focusses on a September to December Challenger Series to decide qulaifiers for the following season.

Which change is your favourite? Mine is the off-season Summer League style QS that we'll now be able to follow with our full attentions. It's cool.

Big news, https://t.co/yP8zJhReu1.
2020 Event Cancellation
2021 CT Calendar
One-day World Title Event
Women’s CT Returns to Tahiti
Countdown Event Series pic.twitter.com/BiF6QWHpHN
— World Surf League (@wsl) July 17, 2020

3. Sydney Wasn't The Only Place Pumping

Now back to the swell. Somewhere on the east coast, a bunch of hours north of Sydney and south of Noosa, probably, Sheldon Simkus, Josh Dowthwaite, Dane Hamilton, Toby Mossop and more were scoring these incredibly perfect barrels. What a week of waves!

4. Deadman's – The First Edit

This was the first clip from Wednesday's Deadman's session to blast itself around Facebook. It's a slightly comical edit, but you couldn't beat it for a quick turnaround.

"Today’s huge pulse of SSE swell is just the first of several days featuring large to heavy surf across the entire Eastern Seaboard," said Coastalwatch Chief Swell Forecaster Ben Macartney on Wednesday.

5. Deadman's – The Raw Edit

Seven minutes of carnage, viewed as if you too were there right there on the headland riding every bump and barrel.

SurfAid CEO and longtime Manly surfer Doug Lees was amongst the crowd. "Best day I have ever seen there, and I cannot believe how many people were charging," he said. "When I was growing up in Manly hardly anyone surfed there, and if you did you were hanging on the edge. Yesterday I counted 34 guys in the line up and most of them charging."

6. Deadman's – The Morning Drone Footage

A quick YouTube clip that gives us a smooth elevated angle of some of the morning waves of Wednesday.

7. Deadman's –The Raw Edit From The Next Day

The bombs didn't stop on Wedneday. Thursday they were back out there.

8. They Were Surfing In Newy Harbour

As the Tasman Low arrived to the Hunter region, most spots blew out around Newcastle... except for one: The sheltered and fickle slab on the inside of Newcastle Harbour.

9. More Surfing From Within Newy Harbour

Jesse Adam, Teale Vanner, Jake Sylvester, Noah Hamilton, Tom Foggo and more getting the best of the rare wave.

10. Oh, and Russell Bierke Re-Signed With O'Neill

Wetty brand O'Neill announced the re-signing of the hard charging Russell Bierke, with the release of this beautiful Andrew Kaineder clip.

Bierkey, pride of the NSW South Coast and one of Australia's premier big wave surfers, has had a longstanding relationship with O'Neill. And the partnership between the two feels pretty spot-on, at least the cinematic dawn-heavy edit certainly makes it feel that way.

Here's how O'Neill describe Bierkey's development over the years with them:

"There was a drive and a quiet determination that shined through whenever the swell lifted. Early slab and outer reefs sessions with the hard core local crew, and a dad that shaped and had a healthy knowledge of big boards and big surf, all added to Russ’s progress. Hidden away in a country location, to then burst onto the scene at 18 years of age and capture a win in possibly one of the heaviest competitions ever to run. The Red Bull Cape Fear."

And in a tough year where surf brands across the board have been cutting surf teams down, Biekey is no doubt pretty pleased to keep it going with his longterm sponsor.

Bonus...

For the first time in decades, Bali is going without a tourist season. But it doesn't stop Bronson Meydi – who seems a star in the making – Rizal Tandjung, Marlon Gerber, Betet Merta and Lee Wilson from scoring.