San Clemente, California — World No. 1 surfers Jordy Smith of South Africa and Gabriela Bryan of Hawaii made strong starts on Tuesday at the opening day of the World Surf League (WSL) Trestles Pro, securing spots in the next round of competition.
Smith, a two-time Trestles champion and the current top-ranked men’s surfer, dominated his heat to move into the Round of 16. He outperformed local competitor Crosby Colapinto and American wildcard Dimitri Poulos.
In the women’s division, Bryan scored an 8.17 on her first wave and followed with a 7.00, finishing with a heat total of 15.17.
Her performance pushed past local wildcard Kirra Pinkerton and Brazil’s Luana Silva, the 2024 World Junior Champion.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Italo Ferreira of Brazil also advanced. He was joined by Olympic silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi of Japan, who eliminated Dimitri Poulos with a score of 13.73 to 10.50 in the elimination round.
Igarashi, who grew up surfing at nearby Huntington Beach, now moves on to the next stage of the competition.