With 16 minutes remaining in the last round-one heat on the women’s side at Snapper Rocks, Sawyer Lindblad used her priority to block a potentially excellent score from the event wildcard Dimity Stoyle.
Stoyle, with second priority, was further up the point and pulled into a tube. She was riding for a few seconds inside the barrel when, down the line, Lindblad opted to use her priority and take the wave. The two got dangerously close, their rails seemingly touching, but no one was hurt.
It evoked parallels to the famous Kelly Slater drop-in on Joel Parkinson on the Gold Coast in 2013. Slater, just like Lindblad, used his priority to take a tube away from Parkinson, who iconically flipped Slater the bird.
Slater even joked in the comment section, “No finger from Dimity?”
It also begged the question of why no interference was called. At the first event of the season, Jack Robinson was called for an interference on Samuel Pupo in a similar situation. The judges determined that Robinson had been “too close” to Pupo, but the distance between them was similar to, if not greater than, that of Lindblad and Stoyle.
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In yesterday’s incident, the judges called no foul. Stoyle was given a 5.27 for the truncated barrel, and Lindblad was given a 4.17 for several backhand turns she did with the rest of the wave.
Lindblad claimed she didn’t drop in to block Stoyle, and didn’t even know she was in the barrel.
“It was crazy,” Lindblad said in her post-heat interview. “I saw (Stoyle) looking at the wave, and then I just put my head down, I’m like ‘This wave looks good, so I’m going to go.’ And I didn’t even know she went on the wave, then all of a sudden I hear, ‘woo,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, is she right here?’ I was so confused by it. I just kept surfing the wave. I am glad neither of us got hurt.”
For the Robinson/Pupo scenario, the WSL posted a clip to Instagram with Renato Hickel, VP of Tours and Competition, explaining the’ rationale behind the call. They haven’t yet posted such a clip explaining why Stoyle didn’t get an interference.
Lindblad advanced to round two, where she’ll face Isabella Nichols.
You watch the event live now on YouTube.
