Image: Stephanie Gilmore yesterday (Towner/ASP.com)
Yesterday all the first round heats were surfed on the first womens WCT event for four months. Stephanie Gilmore and Chelsea Hedges were the stand outs in round one, and despite the fact that they are fierce competitors for the world title (they currently share the top spot in the rankings), they're still great mates. "Chels and I are staying together here which is pretty crazy but it’s going great", said Steph Gilmore after her heat, "we love surfing together because we push each other and we just want to surf better. When I see Chels do a good turn, I just want to do a better one. It’s great travelling together but when the heat is on we know that we’re going to do whatever it takes to win."
Chelsea Hedges is similarly positive about the competition between her and Stephanie Gilmore, "It’s awesome! This is the first year in a while that I’ve felt really, really motivated and I guess I needed someone like Steph to come along and amp things up. I love it, it's awesome for women's surfing and it makes me really push my surfing."
Reigning champion Layne Beachley had a spot of bother before her heat, but still came through to win and advance to round three, "I paddled out late because I came down to watch Chelsea’s heat this morning and left my room unlocked. When I came back the cleaner had locked it and my key was inside so I though I was going to miss my heat completely. I wasn’t really aware of where I was going to surf so I just resorted to where I surfed last year and fortunately it paid off.”
Next call is at 9am tomorrow Brazil time, so we'll report back as soon as they get started again.
Like that? Try this: Billabong Girls Pro Ithica Brazil WCT Live Blog day one | Nicola Atherton wins the Billabong Girls Pro Itacare WQS in Brazil, gains world tour wild card | More surfing
