(Reuters) – Australia’s seven-time world champ Stephanie Gilmore won the first Surf City El Salvador Pro on Friday, coming from behind to style her way to victory over Californian Lakey Peterson in the final.
Young Californian Griffin Colapinto took an aggressive and progressive approach to claim his second tour victory of the year, impressing judges with his radical turns throughout the event.
His final against ratings leader Filipe Toledo was something of an air show, with the Brazilian scoring a near perfect 9.57 out of 10 for two giant aerials on one wave, before Colapinto scored a nine of his own.
With their scores level and under three minutes on the clock, Toledo let Colapinto take a smaller wave that he tore to pieces with a series of carves and spins, finishing with a two wave total of 17 out of 20, a point ahead of Toledo.
“It means everything,” Colapinto said. “Filipe’s the best in the world right now and he can pretty much do everything in the books, so to have the final with him and end up getting him in the last two minutes is what I dream of.”
The contest was the first world championship tour event held in La Libertad as El Salvador’s government looks to drum up interest in its surf tourism industry.
The long, cobblestone point of Punta Roca never quite reached the quality it is capable of as a nearby tropical storm made conditions challenging, but it still delivered some decent, overhead waves for the final two days.
“I came here for the (International Surfing Association) event last year, and I just fell in love with this place,” Gilmore said after her record 33rd-career win. “Muchas gracias Punta Roca, and El Salavador, it’s really special.
“Thank you for letting us ride your waves and welcoming us so well. I’m so happy to be here and to win is just the cherry on the top.”
The wins catapult both Gilmore and Colapinto to third place in their respective ratings as the tour now heads to Brazil for the third-last stop.
The top five men and women after the 10-event world tour will compete in a one-days finals competition in California in September.
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
