Photo of SeaHawaii Pipeline Bodyboarding champion Karla Costa Taylor, "Wave of the Contest" winner Lilly Pollard, and Longboarding champion Melanie Bartels.
Report from the SeaHawaii Women's Pipeline 5-15th March 2012:
Gerringong bodyboarder Lilly Pollard has overcome rough and stormy condition to claim fourth place at the SeaHawaii Women’s Pipeline Pro in Hawaii, and "Wave of the Contest". This is Lilly's second top five finish in the first two rounds of the 2012 IBA world tour, which have both been held at Pipeline.
Murky brown waters from recent floods, a barrage of North-East swells which created a big sandbar at Pipeline, and winds of up to 40 knots left organisers with no other option but to
move the competition to Ehukai -a righthander which had formed next to the infamous Pipeline.
move the competition to Ehukai -a righthander which had formed next to the infamous Pipeline.
As this event was a USBA Tour event, Pollard had no seeding, and had to fight her way from the first round, battling super strong currents and howling sideshore winds all day through five heats to make it to the final.
"I felt like I was in an ironwoman competition hahaha, man it was tough that day. I couldn't even get out of bed the next morning, my muscles were that sore!"
The highlight for Lilly came in the semi final, when, with an 8.5 ride from two big rollos, Lilly got washed down towards Backdoor -and with only 3 minutes remaining decided wait for a a wave there...
"I was way down the beach, but still in the contest area, and had seen a couple of waves going through there at Backdoor, so I decided to stay put and hope one would come. I actually took the wave from a local surfer who was sitting there too."
"I was way down the beach, but still in the contest area, and had seen a couple of waves going through there at Backdoor, so I decided to stay put and hope one would come. I actually took the wave from a local surfer who was sitting there too."
Pollard whipped into a fast forward spin, then backdoored a long barrel section, just sneaking out before the wave shut down. The ride gave Lilly a perfect ten point score and "Wave of the contest" award. With a combined total of 18.5 out of 20, it also put Lilly into first place, and guaranteed her a spot in the final.
The final came down to a four women, multi-national final.
Pollard faced Minami Hatakeyama from Japan , Karla Costa Taylor Brazil/Hawaii and local Hawaiian girl Claudia Ferrari.
As the girls paddled out for their final, a strong onshore wind came in, making conditions even more difficult.
The Brazilian, Karla Costa Taylor scored the best wave of the final landing a huge el rollo on a rare lefthander, showing why she is a dual world champion.
Miname from Japan looked probably the most comfortable in the trying conditions, and rolled and spinned her way to second place, while local girl Claudia Ferrari managed to do enough for third.
Lilly meanwhile, took a gamble by sitting way up the beach at Backdoor once again, hoping for another dream barrel. This time it did not pay off for her.
"I was so stoked to make it to the final, after coming so close (5th place) at the last event here a few weeks ago -the 'Pipe Challenge', I wanted so badly to make the final here, so for me, it was a dream come true. Well, almost, ha. My dream is to win in pumping Pipeline. I came here for the big crazy barrels you see at this place! It's funny because, I've been coming here for almost ten years now, and I love Pipe, I've scored some incredible barrels here, but the only two events that I actually made the final was in the worst conditions that Pipe has ever seen! ha. Last time was in 2005, it was muddy and terrible and we actually had to stop the final because a shark charged at one of the girls during our heat! It was crazy! So we all got equal first, which kind of means I have won Pipe hahaha, well not really. I'm still waiting for that day. But I'll be back next year for sure. I really love this place."
Next stop for Lilly Pollard is Reunion Island on April 4th, for the next stop on the IBA World Tour, followed closely by the Port Macquarie Pro, which will be a Grand Slam rated event on the IBA World Tour.
Here's the link to some good pics from the day: http://transpiracaoimagens.blogspot.com/2012/03/seahawaii-womens-pro-pipeline-2012.html
More info at www.ibaworldtour.com
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