Losing a board just before the end of his heat turned out to be the motivation Mexico’s Alan Cleland needed to execute the most impressive comeback of the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games.
With five minutes left until the buzzer, Cleland was re-attaching his board on shore and paddling back out into the line-up. A few minutes later he performed a massive aerial that earned him a pass to the fourth round, a mere 0.10 points below the score of Olympic silver medallist Kanoa Igarashi.
Cleland’s heroics were not the only moment that captured our eye on the fourth day of competition at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games in El Salvador.
Costa Rica’s Leilani Mcgonagle became the first athlete to beat world No.1 Carissa Moore in El Salvador, while Israel’s Uri Uziel defied the rankings when he topped his heat and downgraded world No.3 Filipe Toledo to the repechages.
Dutch teenager Tiara van der Huls also sent a clear message that her massive wave score in the previous round was no accident as she served up another stunning performance.
Read about what you’ve missed in our daily review and watch all the action live on Olympics.com.
As it happened: Board-less Cleland makes massive comeback
Mexico’s surfers have been in top form at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games, but nothing could have prepared Alan Cleland for the challenge he would face in his third-round heat.
Cleland, who currently holds the record for the highest-scoring wave in the men's competition, got detached from his board after catching his second wave.
With less than five points on the board and sitting in third position, Cleland urgently paddled back to the shore. Once there, he caught his board and reattached the leash.
“It was natural instinct, survival mode,” Cleland told Olympics.com. “I felt I lost it when I fell so I went straight out. (My team) had the back-up board ready but I wanted to keep using my magic one.”
Heading straight for the line-up with less than four minutes left on the clock, Cleland caught one of the first waves coming his way and executed a 360 rotation that earned him 7.33 points - the highest wave score in the heat - and a ticket to the next round.
“I knew there was not much time and I had to go big so that’s what I did. Really happy I made it happen,” Cleland said. “I come here to practise a lot so this for me is a bit of a reward that the previous hard work is paying off.”
No Brazilian shadow on Sebastian Hernandez
Cleland’s teammate, Sebastian Hernandez, also had an impressive heat in the third round, holding his own against Brazil’s Gabriel Medina. Hernandez led for most of the heat, though Medina did manage to flip the standings with a last-minute manouver.
Facing the three-time world champion did not daunt the feisty Mexican.
“There are really big names in this event, but I am focused on doing my thing,” Hernandez told Olympics.com. “The pressure is the same no matter who is in your heat.”
While Hernandez wasn’t rattled by Medina’s presence, the Brazilian’s surfing at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games has got the other athletes worried.
Medina is continuing to dominate the event, finishing first in all his heats, all of which scored among the Top 10 totals. His lowest total score so far is set at a hefty 15.27.
Tiara van der Huls: Surfing for chocolate
As for Mexico’s Cleland and Hernandez, not giving it her all was not an option for Tiara van der Huls. But for her, the consequences of that would not only be losing the heat, but also having to eat a hot chilli pepper.
This is the punishment that the Dutch team has devised for the athletes: commit to surfing the hardest part of the wave during the heat and get a chocolate; go safe – eat a chilli pepper.
Van der Huls has earned more than one chocolate with the ground-breaking surfing she has been showing in El Salvador this week.
Only 16 years old and relatively unknown until this year’s World Surfing Games, van der Huls got a big win over Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb in the third round to follow on the massive wave score she got the previous day.
The teenage surfer received 9.03 points, then the highest score on a single wave among men and women, in the second round.
“I felt really comfortable in the water,” van der Huls told Olympics.com. “I never thought it was possible to make the heats with such professional surfers so I’m really happy to pass the rounds.
“I just figured out I have to surf and have fun. It doesn’t really matter for me if I make the heats. It’s just about having fun, and that’s what I think is the most important.”
Ellie Harrison, Erin Brooks: Repechage resilience
While van der Huls celebrated getting into the fourth round, she did lose her wave record shortly after as Australia’s Ellie Harrison earned 9.50 points to send a defiant message from her repechage heat.
Another teenage talent, 15-year-old Erin Brooks, also showed resilience in the repechages. Not discouraged by falling to van der Huls in the second round, the Canadian surfer came back strong in El Sunzal and got the third-highest heat total of the competition, 16.60 points.
Costa Rica catches Carissa Moore off guard
Getting a wildcard for the World Surf League stage in El Salvador later in June seemed to boost Leilani Mcgonagle’s confidence so much that even facing two Olympic medallists in the third round could not dampen her spirits.
The Costa Rican paddled out with Olympic champion Carissa Moore and bronze medallist Amuro Tsuzuki and returned to the shore as the winner.
“I am really stoked. Surfing is a sport that depends on things we can't control like the waves but today things definitely worked out for me,” Mcgonagle told Olympics.com after becoming the first athlete to beat Moore at the 2023 World Surfing Games.
“It was an honour to be in the water with the other surfers who are also friends.”
Day 5 action: Repechage marathon
The surfers will back in the waters on Sunday, 5 June as the World Surfing Games go into the fourth round and more athletes are eliminated in the repechages.
The men’s fourth round begins in La Bocana, while some top names will be fighting their way up from the repechages in a day that promises plenty of drama.
World No.1 Griffin Colapinto and world No.2 Joao Chianca will be among the top names surfing to stay in the competition, along with USA’s John John Florence. If they move on, they could face Filipe Toledo and local star Bryan Perez in the repechage fourth round.
Also keep an eye on Erin Brooks and Brazil’s Luana Silva who will surf in the women’s repechage round 3.
2023 ISA World Surfing Games: Day 4 results, highlights, and livestream from the Olympic qualifier event - Olympics
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