‘Best day of my life’, ‘surreal and special’: Australian victories at Bells Beach mean more to local surfers | Kieran Pender

Each of the 11 stops on the World Surf League regular season count for the same amount of points as the world’s best surfers vie to secure a spot in the year-end finals. But there is no doubting that the Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro, which wrapped up its 62nd edition over the weekend, has a unique place in surfing folklore. Winning the longest running event in competitive surfing and ringing its iconic bell trophy means more than most triumphs on the WSL circuit.

“This is the best day of my life,” said Australia’s Isabella Nichols, minutes after defeating junior world champion Luana Silva in the women’s final on Sunday afternoon. Having clinched the victory in the water, Nichols surfed a gentle wave towards the shore – lifting her arms and ringing an imaginary bell as she went.

The Queenslander’s victory was all the sweeter having lost the final at the El Salvador Pro a fortnight ago, which had meant she had to miss her twin sister’s wedding. At Bells, the 27-year-old was chaired up the beach by her father and coach, to rapturous applause. “I’m bloody stoked,” Nichols later added.

The significance of success at Bells – a remarkable natural sporting amphitheatre, with steep cliffs, a packed beach and frequent large swells from Antarctica – was similarly felt on the men’s side of the draw. Australia’s Jack Robinson downed close friend Kanoa Igarashi, in a tightly-fought final contest.

After Robinson vigorously rang the bell himself, the 27-year-old was asked whether he had been waiting to do that for a long time. “I watched Mick [Fanning], Joel [Parkinson], Kelly [Slater] do it earlier today like 10 times,” Robinson said, listing some of his idols who have previously won the Bells Pro. “I was like: ‘We’re almost there, just don’t get too excited, just try to stay in the moment’,” he said. “It’s really surreal and special.” It was the West Australian’s eighth career WSL victory.

Nichols and Robinson’s heroics concluded an entertaining edition of the traditional Easter-time sporting event. Local wildcard Xavier Huxtable knocked out world No 1 Italo Ferreira, while defending champion Caitlin Simmers was beaten by previously out-of-form veteran Sally Fitzgibbons. 2023 Bells winner Ethan Ewing produced what some described as the best surfing seen at Bells in the round of 16, only to lose in the quarter-finals to Igarashi, while trials winner Morgan Cibilic rampaged all the way through to the semis.

The dual domestic victories at Bells underscored the rude health of Australian elite surfing. Three of the top five female surfers in the world at the moment are Australian: Nichols, Tyler Wright and Molly Picklum (the top five at the end of the season qualify for the finals). For the men, meanwhile, Ewing and Robinson are currently second and third in the world respectively.

The identity of the Bells victors also highlighted how remarkably open the WSL campaign has been to date. Approaching the season’s halfway point, no surfer – male or female – has won more than a single crown. Ewing and Picklum are distinct among the respective top five rankings, having not won an event so far but instead having displayed remarkable consistency.

The world’s best will not have long to gather their breath from a week and a half on the Victorian surf coast. The championship tour now moves to the Gold Coast, with the first day of the window beginning on Saturday. The event was originally due to be held at Snapper Rocks at Coolangatta, but the residual impact of ex-Cyclone Alfred on the sand banks has seen the event moved to Burleigh Heads.

Then just a few days after winners are crowned in Queensland, the WSL caravan will head to Margaret River for the third and final Australian leg of this year’s schedule. The Western Australian event will play host the dreaded mid-season “cut”, with only the top 22 men and 10 women continuing onwards – for the remaining stops in California, Rio de Janeiro, South Africa and Tahiti, before the finals in Fiji.

Bells Beach may not be the best wave in the world. There are sometimes grumbles about its quality as a perpetual stop on the WSL calendar; it largely fired for competitors over the week and a half, although Cibilic, Ewing and Wright will all feel a little let down by the temporary absence of waves that contributed to their respective exits.

But Nichols’ ringing of her air bell as she surfed towards a packed beach on Sunday was an apt reminder of the special place the Bells Beach Pro has at the spiritual heart of competitive surfing. As the WSL continues its three-stop swing through Australia, Australian surfing is on top of the world.