The West Wind #16

JBay Surf Hero

MATT MCGILLIVRAY

In 2019 a young South African surfer from Jeffreys Bay surprised many by qualifying for the 2020 premier tour season. Matt McGillivray had had an outstanding year competing.

However, Matt was in Australia, preparing for the start of the year’s event on the Gold Coast, when Covid struck, international travel was cancelled, and just like that, the tour was off.

“IT WAS HUGELY DISAPPOINTING WHEN THE FIRST EVENT GOT CANCELLED,” REMEMBERS MCGILLIVRAY.

Then, when the tour started last year, Matt had a poor run, finishing off 24th on the year-end rankings. As a result, he ended the tour just outside the qualifying line. Still, he was first up as an injury replacement. As luck would have it, he then sneaked onto the tour as the injury replacement when Brazilian Yago Dora withdrew from the tour with an injury.

IT WAS NEVER GOING TO BE EASY.

Matt got back on tour, and then the WSL mid-year cuts loomed before he had even had a single good result. There were plenty of top surfers who would get chopped at the cut, and Matt was in that group.

He needed a remarkable performance and result at Margaret River in Western Australia to get him above the cut-line. On paper, the odds were very much against him.

THEN THE WAVES GOT CHUNKY, AND THINGS STARTED LOOKING UP. MATT LOVES IT WHEN IT GETS A BIT BIG AND UNCOMFORTABLE.

The waves were solid and wind-blown, with massive ten-foot plus walls pouring through during his heats.

While many surfers looked a bit rattled and never got the chance to get going, Matt found the good sets. He charged them and racked up enough power turns to earn the needed points. The natural-footer took out heralded surfers Kanoa Igarashi, Samuel Pupo and

HE DID ENOUGH TO REQUALIFY AND IS BACK ON TOUR AND IS COMPETING THROUGH THE BACK HALF OF 2022, INCLUDING SURFING AT THE CORONA OPEN JBAY.

The location on the world tour where he will be most formidable is on his home turf at Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay. He will be able to surf relaxed and cut loose in front of his home crowd, friends and family.

THE FACT THAT HE IS HERE, ON TOUR, AGAINST SUCH INCREDIBLE ODDS, IS A TESTAMENT THAT HE COULD GO ALL THE WAY TO THE FINAL IN JBAY.