A challenging bump arrived during the women’s Main Event Round 3 heats, making it hard to find high scores. For the most part experience paid off as 2013 Open Junior Gold Medalist Honolua Blomfield (HAW), 2023 Silver Medalist Maria Fernanda Reyes (PER), 2013 Silver Medalist Rachael Tilly (USA) and 2018 Copper Medalist Natsumi Taoka (JPN) each took heat wins. The exception was back-to-back defending champion Alice Le Moigne (FRA), who was sent to repechage after a strong performance from Sive Jarrard (ASA) saw Le Moigne knocked into third place after the buzzer by Reyes and Jarrard.
Blomfield, the three-time WSL Longboard Champion, found the best of the day, expertly navigating the conditions to earn an 8.00, the highest single wave score for the women, as well as the highest heat total, 12.83.
“I feel like I definitely tend to deal with conditions like these at home,” Blomfield said. “I’ve had to just go for it a lot of my life at Pipeline, for instance, or Pupukea, the big sandbars. I try to go out as big as possible, so I’m used to the bump and backwash. But that was a challenge out there I’ve got to say. I love (competing in the ISA). I think it’s a really cool aspect of team surfing, we don’t get that most of the year. I got the call and I was like, ‘Oh my god, yes, I’ll go, of course.’”
Blomfield’s teammate Kelis Kaleopa’a was the first to be eliminated from the exceptionally strong Team Hawaii. The 2023 WSL World Title runner-up, Kaleopa’a was knocked out in the first heat of the day along with Germany’s Mascha Trietsch by veteran Filipino competitor Daisy Valdez and Mexico’s 16-year-old rising star Coral Bonilla. Bonilla styled her way across the first ride of the day, a large set wave that delivered her multiple critical nose-ride sections to earn a 7.33. Valdez also found a solid set wave, earning an even better 7.40 to take the heat win, the pair moving into Repechage Round 4.
Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Bronze Medalist Lia Diaz (CRC) also found a critical heat win to continue in repechage, as did Emily Currie (ENG) and Anne Albers (NED).
Competition will continue Wednesday April 24 at 7 a.m. local time El Salvador live on isasurf.org.