In what was a stellar return to the break of yesteryear, the Narrabeen Classic saw the worlds best smashing the lineup and super-sized crowds cheering them on.
Caroline Marks and Gabriel Medina were victorious at the third stop on the WSL 2021 Championship Tour.
Two-time World Champion Gabriel Medina held nothing back in the Final of the Rip Curl Narrabeen Cup, posting the highest two-wave combination of the entire event to overcome Californian Conner Coffin for his 15th CT victory. Medina posted his excellent 18.77 heat total (out of a possible 20) within the first 15 minutes of the 35-minute Final with back-to-back full-rotation air-reverses.
“I haven’t had this winning feeling for a while, and it feels amazing,” Medina said. “It feels good to put on that sort of a performance in a Final. Sticking my airs and hearing the crowd chant my name was really cool. I’ve had a few finals recently but was making some mistakes, but it feels good to come back here and fix my mistakes. I feel like I got better and am so happy with my performance. This has been a fun week. I’ve never had such a good time here in Australia. The Northern Beaches have been so nice, the food, the beaches, the people. We have had so much amazing support on the beach as well; it’s just been so fun.”
Caroline Marks earned her third CT victory today after defeating fellow goofy-footer Tatiana Weston-Webb in the Final, Courtney Conlogue in the semi-finals, and Johanne Defay in the Quarterfinals. Marks displayed incredible poise and control on her frontside, gouging the bowling lefts of North Narrabeen. Known as having one of the best backhand attacks on the CT, today, Marks proved her forehand is not to be underestimated either.
“I feel so emotional actually after everything that’s led to getting here,” Marks said. “I’m just so stoked. This is the sickest feeling ever. This has been really fun. It’s been so sick to go left in an event. Narrabeen has been amazing, and I want to thank all the locals for letting us take over this epic wave for the week. I also want to thank my family, support crew, and WSL for getting me here. I’m over the moon.”
This week’s victory put Medina up to World Number One and gives him his best-ever start to the season and has put the rest of the draw on notice as they head to the West.
Once the youngest ever surfer to qualify for the CT at just 15, Marks has taken the CT by storm since, and today marks her third CT victory and pushes her closer to the final five and in fine form ahead of her Olympic representation.
