Surfing’s Challenger Series is off and running at Snapper Rocks in Australia.
And in day three of competition, one of the event’s most intriguing matchups went down: Stephanie Gilmore versus Sierra Kerr. Eight-time World Champion versus up-and-coming surf star. Old school veteran versus new school phenom.
For the majority of the heat, Steph had her back against the wall. Young Sierra Kerr, daughter of aerial specialist and former Championship Tour surfer Josh Kerr, had the eight-time champ in a combination. But in the dying minutes, Steph broke the combo with two back-to-back excellent scores. The last of which, a 9.33, sealed the deal and sent Sierra packing.
“Not today, grom,” said Kaipo Guerrero from the commentator booth.
Josh Kerr, watching along from the beach, an uneasy smile on his face.
Captioning the heat recap vid, the WSL wrote: “The eight-time World Champ Stephanie Gilmore turned Sierra Kerr’s combination around in the dying minutes showing nerves of steel and dropping back-to-back excellent scores to post a near-perfect 9.33 and 17.40 heat total.”
But, of course, Steph was gracious with her win; and she praised young Sierra and forecasted her bright future.
“Those heats are funny. I felt like I did nothing, then in the last three minutes it was just bang, bang, bang.
“Sierra is an awesome surfer. She’s got such a long future ahead of her, [she’s] going to be smashing everyone. So, this felt really nice to get this one on her for now.
“It was a tough one. She came out the gates firing. I was like, ‘go easy on me, grom.’”
Keep an eye out for Sierra Kerr; she’s definitely the future of female pro surfing. And stay tuned for more from the Boost Mobile Gold Coast Pro.
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