Toledo Speaks Up After Withdrawing From 2024 CT // Hurley Pro Sunset Beach 2024

Toledo Speaks Up After Withdrawing From 2024 CT // Hurley Pro Sunset Beach 2024

Saturday thanks for being with us how about this on the set Joe Trel Jesse Mendes two-time Ro champ and last year’s champ at Sunset Beach Felipe too thank you so much for joining us yeah thank you guys thank you guys for the opportunity to be here one one last time

Before you know the year goes by gosh we’re going to miss you yeah let’s get right to it you made the big statement the other day uh first of all take us through what led you to that and how you feeling now yeah um I mean I feel great

I feel super happy um of course it was a hard decision for me you know it took me a few days to realize that this is actually happening um but it was just I was just you know giving priority to myself like I don’t want to but I need to right you know

It’s it’s hard for me to live this you know like to not Surf not compete I’ve been down here watching a little bit I’m like ah you know but um I know I know I need the break I know I have to you know reset kind of just you know live one year

Pressure free and you know be home for the kids for family and go on shrift trips beautiful gosh we are going to miss you but we love uh where you’re at and taking uh your career into your own hands you deserve it uh when I look at

The schedule you know we’re at Sunset you know winning it last year and then you look at the calendar you know you know you look at Portugal you look at Bells you look at Margaret rer you’ve won so many different types of events the king of Rio J bay El Salvador I mean

Your range of domination has been unbelievable and you definitely Chang the entire game when you look at Pipeline and in Tahiti you know those are the the events that have challenged you is that still a fair statement to say and if so are you planning on really working on building those events can’t

Tell you guys all that just kidding no but yeah that’s for sure you know I feel like everyone has um their strong points and the you know the weakest point and um yeah and that’s something that I’ve been trying to work on the last couple

Of years and really trying to put in the work and um yeah and this year I’m definitely going to have opportunities to go places like that come back to Hawaii go to Tahiti go serve some other ways that you know I never been and um

Just put in the time and you know get better and yeah and just focus and improving and really surfing when you look at this position that you’re in you know the reigning world champ two-time World Champ and then you kind of go into surfing history and you look at the Great

From aie to Kelly to Andy uh and even more recently to Gabriel Medina who all were in this same position where they’re like hey I’m going to take some time off and then get their wild card and come back stronger did does that sound kind of familiar to you now that where you

Sit today of kind of comparing yourself to the world champions of the past and and actually craving that time off yes and no Joe because um you know uh you don’t know to you’re that position that you’re like okay I’m going to decide to do this you know and it’s it’s the

Impact is so powerful because I mean I’ve been doing this for 11 years now on tour and I don’t know 15 16 years you know being a professional Surfer and I mean me this guy here we shared a lot of you know like amateur events together of

Course he’s a little bit older but we still got to serve together um a few a few events and we’ve been doing SC for little right and there’s always that pressure not from parents or anything like that it’s just like ourselves you know like trying to um show our best

Side and just trying to get better but after a few years you’re just like okay I you know I got to a point that I I definitely need a break but it’s it’s definitely a hard decision for me you I was I was crying at home for like 3 days

Just like oh I really want to do but I don’t want to do but at the end of the day you know it’s just focus on my my body my mental health being being home and really relaxing you know and um but yeah it’s it’s an opportunity that we

Have um the WSL was awesome about it they’re just like super helpful super supportive and um all my sponsors too so yeah just super thankful for everyone around that you know been helping me out uh that’s beautiful thanks for being with us our world champion defending

Event champ joining us for the call this heat Gabriel medinaa in the lineup with Eli hanaman and Matthew mcel and Felipe is going to give us all his Insight on a wave he W on last season that helped out his world title campaign in 2023 Gabe off to a good start let’s

Break down this replay Jesse a 5.0 on the opener yeah let’s check this out gibra starting early just it’s what what I think is so impressive obviously this is the first time I’m seeing this wave just how he was able to carry the speed throughout

That wave it’s so hard to do that here mostly in that situation that he was in it and here a big of a contrast just a big section from Eli um nice turn right there the wave just getting very flat after that and probably running into this channel but just critical turn

That’s what he got rewarded a um 4.93 well done for Eli hman and also Matthew McGill coming through the White Water 8.33 Felipe yeah I mean that’s um this is the kind of turns that you want to do at Sunset you know once you have one big

Turn on the wave and then a second one like that on a big section you’re you’re pretty much know that you’re going to get a big score you know cuz and said you need that big open face in that big car of a lot of water so and Matt you

Know he’s he’s one of my favorites you know in bigger surfing and he just puts everything in the line and I mean we’re just watching this way right now getting an 8 33 two turns pretty much so good surfing really love that connection for

Migil he’s put in a lot of time out here in the off season always strong in big open ocean waves you just reminded me Felipe some big turns he provided at main break marar River when he really needed it the most to keep himself on the right side of the mid-season cut

Yeah as we break this one down I just can’t get past Eli hannaman and his favorite Surfer uh every time I hear an interview he mentions your name and uh I think it was kind of cool that he got to pass you on some messages about hearing

Your announcement cuz he wanted a heat with you really badly how cool to that feel that was the first comment I got on my on my post he goes like Oh I really wish I surf the heat with you this year I was like just keep doing what you’re

Doing bud you’re doing good surfing amazing putting the time out there you know seen so many clips of Eli out here at sunset too so um and I feel like all the the New Kids on tter right now they’re all fired up and super energetic it’s it’s pretty fun to watch but you

Know I just hopefully that can just can keep going and I’ll see them see them next year Jesse do you see a bit of Felipe and Eli in his game totally two freaks since they’re 12 like Filipe like it’s he’s been on another level since I can’t remember um just pushing everyone

So hard um even I’m about 3 years older than him I think two 3 years and he would do his division our division and the next vision and smoke everyone this is what Eli like he’s just a phenome you know like since you’re so young doing backflips and has every tricks on the

Book yeah amazing tube writer charges charges yeah and yeah out of uh all those messages you received you know when you made the big announcement did any particular ones really pop out to you or was it just all the support that added up um you know there’s definitely

The ones that you’re you know kind of like okay I like this guy or I like the surfer or something like that but um I feel like the surfing Community they all understood let you know like what I was feeling pretty much I got you know pretty nice message from Parco got you

Know pretty cool message from Mick you know and like some of my best friends on tour as well and you know I got to spend personal time with Miguel you know like talking about all that um but yeah I feel like all the support from everyone

Was just was just amazing and super warm and you know kept my heart you know pretty cool and I was just like okay that’s that’s nice cuz at the end of the day I was just like I wasn’t ready for so many good you know like and

Supportive comments um I was kind of scared but at the end of the day I was just like man I this is for me this is my decision you know I’ll just do it and then after all that post and the announcement everyone was super supportive and I was super stoked tunto

As we look at 19 on the clock Medina up and out five and a57 833 on the opener for mcgil set the mark there as he steps off again on Wave number two here comes Elijah koha handman just having to get out of there Eli’s been putting in so much time on

This wave he’s enjoying the process feeling himself get more and more prepared for this rookie season and he showed us a lot of great things in pipeline uh his technique absolutely charging but he definitely was unsatisfied the with the result trying to carry some momentum here in Sunset

Beach Jesse Yeah and and and he’s feeling that obviously he had more in the tank um such a talented Surfer and he’s so comfortable out there he’s very comfortable putting himself in tricky situations out of pipe and mostly with the days that we had with big conditions

You got to be very comfortable at doing that and he has that in him so had more to show it off for us but maybe he’s going to capitalize and bring that momentum that he started that well maybe not as far as result but as far as

Performance his first heat he had an amazing drop a great barrel and yeah let’s see how it goes but at this moment everyone had like in the split of 30 seconds everyone kind of committed a mistake everyone got waves and lost priority in situations that they should

Have not so let’s see who’s going to be able to capitalize on that mistake and Gabe sitting with priority now and he’s usually pretty good at that breaking down Gabe as a sunset Surfer I I have this crazy floater that always Pops in my head remember the air drop and he

Pulled it off somehow featured in some finals at the World Cup stage how would you break down what he can do at a wave like this pH Felipe I don’t know I think we need him here you know to actually explain but um yeah that was uh one of

The most insane photos I’ve ever seen you know he was literally needing in score the last 30 seconds you know get on that Sunset bow and the biggest section comes at him he sits on the roof flies back down lends it on his back like you know like try fighting for it

Like gets up on his board and it was pretty much like one turn that he did on the wave I don’t I could really remember but it was like eight something you know he went from fourth all the way to second or first so uh like the way that

He commuted to all his terms and um and I know Gabriel is really good at coming back of laybacks he’s falls on his back and somehow he always recovers it um but yeah it was it was impressive gave Medina an absolute hero on all venues on tour looking to capitalize with his

Priority at the moment with 1615 on the clock plenty of time for Heat number nine with Matthew mcil still out front we’ll be right back out and enjoy the full edit of Eli hanan’s run to the championship Tour on Red Bull surfing’s YouTube channel as we go down the line with South Africa’s

MADD McGill coming down on his feet for completion trying to improve on his total out front opened up with the 833 and sitting in a good place now with a 12.6 combined total 13 on the clock three time Ro champ Gabriel Medina lock again start starting off with a backhand

Stab more of a wall here under the lip somehow pulls that one off well done for Medina ditching a57 and Eli holding down priority sitting in third came off that really rad clip with Red Bull and talk about a dramatic year for Eli last year before we get there we’ll start off with

Matti’s wave here Jessy I think just more than anything in this way for mat is just smart decision um third priority had no backups has a huge score in the Heat and and just smart to get a backup and make even more of a a gap in between

The other surface and um Gabe right here a little bit late on that last turn than he probably would have liked to but still very critical um going to get a good backup on that as well speak to the backhanders out here at Sunset Jesse I asked Connor lir about it this morning

He laughed he was like being a backhander at Sunset there’s nothing good about it he kind of was joking with me a lot so what about your response of you a good thing about being a backhander of sunset if you have something for us um I think a good thing

About being a backhander of sunset is on a day like today if it’s northy and kind of all over it’s easier for you to get critical and vertical and the judges are going to reward that usually so if there’s an advantage on a day it’s probably will be not maybe not an

Advantage but more in of even playing field I think it’ll be on a day like today still enjoying our time with two time will champ and event Champ here at Sunset Felipe TOA watching Eli hanaman in motion hanaman off the top there’s a snap in transition already hanging out

With the caddies and the W over there and going to the distance turning that one into a keeper needing a a 5.67 fipe how’ you do there yeah I did good I mean that first that first turn was uh pretty solid in a critical section of the wave you know we you

Always want to start you know pretty good and solid um and he did that he was able to get one last turn twoo that was that was pretty nice um yeah I feel like he’s he’s back in the heat now with the with the second score and uh yeah just

Be patient right now and and wait for for a bigger score and a better wave let’s have another luck here Jesse yeah nice wave selection there for him lots of speed and critical right there just hitting the lip so hard out here at Sunset there’s so much going on and

Actually was impressive how he was able to get so much spray out of that second turn cuz there wasn’t there’s like a split little point right there that he could actually push through it and he found that smart surfing for him and then right by the the caddies

There Eli doing a good job to prepare for this big event as we were mentioning earlier matd mcgil though will take now his fifth wave of the matchup his wave previous a 427 that’s still his low score throwing a nice clean Arc I really enjoyed matd mcgil at

The start of the Season remember the Tanny got in Tahiti which was beyond impressive I just really enjoyed that he did a similar type of approach at pipeline to show off that technique you know when you come from J Bay everyone’s expecting to do all the rights on tour

And that’s a great skill set that he has back to this last wave Felipe what’ you see here yeah kind of like a you know not super walled wave he was kind of cutting back back all all the way down um not much on offer for him to go

Critical and go up in vertical but um I mean he’s he’s pretty solid in first he now changes a 427 but he only needs you know like a little bit more to actually improve his situation but yeah I mean just keeping active and you know like catching waves getting into the flow I

Feel like this helps a lot sometimes at sunet too 9 minutes on the clock let’s catch up with the winner of the last Heat Lao fante is with AJ Lao congratulations first heat here at Sunset first Heat win how did you get it done uh just me versus Sunset that’s

What it is out there uh started off on a good wave and then I made a couple mistakes but it’s really tough to choose the right wave out there and then my backup score is actually in third priority they kind of Let It Go and you

Know put me in a good lead and then just try to um kind of control at the end and uh compete trying to you know stay in the Heat and uh make sure that the the boys don’t get a really good wave yeah I want to talk about the strategy there

Because it is obviously so important to know where you are in the heat what everyone else needs how have you honed that aspect of your competitive surfing skills um there’s definitely places where you worry about your competitors and places where you worry about surfing and sunset I think is really trying to

Make sure you get on a good wave but also you know if a competitor needs a five or six at sunset it’s actually a big score whereas maybe pipe is quite easier to get those bigger scores so I think that’s what I was trying to focus

On you know get a good total and then just control and um yeah I think at the end needed a a six or seven to pass me or something like that so um I knew a really good way needed to come for for him to get it how much confidence does

It give you to win this first heat of sunset moving forward in the competition oh it’s great you know with um with the whole seating bracket thing it’s always important to win but uh in the end everybody serves so good that it kind of doesn’t really matter who you

Uh who you draw um maybe the last seat is amazing or the whatever it’s like uh definitely gives me a lot of confidence to win Heat at Sunset and I’m really excited for the next round do you want to say anything to friends and family back home before we let you

Go thanks so much Le faant I love how he said it was him vers Sunset we’ve heard that a lot at this venue on tour as we have Medina kick out who’s trying to get out of third remember third place goes the elimination round which has been called on for

Today Leo though 105 total winning the challenge in that first round and we’ll see him reced it into the round of 32 always good to check out the heat check uh for the matchup that we have right now Felipe anything really standing out to you as we bring this up

Anything interesting yeah um I guess we all agreed that first wave of Matt was you know the best wave of the heat um two big turns finishing off with a little turn you know right by the channel um and I feel like Eli is doing a good job of you know like selecting

The waves that he’s going to um and you know we all know he’s super dangerous in any condition um yeah I I could I guess like just kind of wait for a good wave getting that Rhythm you know be be perfect but so far Matt’s being to stand out on his

Heat and also looking at last score you could see Mattie with the 3.33 on the other side for Eli the 65 is now Eli’s best and then last to Medina just the 1.8 so a throw away as Gabriel stays in third Jesse Yeah just some po wave

Selection right there on that last one which is tricky out here it’s so easy for you to pull the trigger look thinking that the wave is going to be good and just the wave just flatten now there’s so many um shallow and deep spots in The Reef so the wave would hit

Differently every time you stand up on a wave here um but it was a mistake and now sitting with third priority like guys are going to be on top of him mostly if you have someone like Gabriel that can turn average waves into good scores they going to keep a very close

Eye on them one of the coolest things about last year Watching you compete Felipe was your wave selection really popped out to me at a lot of the Waves when you qualified for the tour I enjoyed those cuzz you caught a lot of waves and there was a lot of Great

Moments and got to lot watch a lot of Surfing but more specifically J Bay sometimes looking at the heat draw or the heat sheet it’s like oh you only caught two you know it was like you really honed in on what a good wave looks like but on a day like today at

Sunset is that easy to do or would your game plan be like keep it going with the waves that we have for today yeah um I feel like that’s the hard part too cuz you know as Jesse said earlier he’s kind of like all over you

You not too sure which wave is going to you know be good and you’re going to have a section to actually do a turn but um I feel like if you if you see an opportunity that you like oh I can feed two turns in this wave you know maybe

Like a big insection I feel like that’s going to be you know the biggest scores um and you know that’s it looks like a pretty good wave for Matt but yeah not really see like as Jesse said you know he hits the rift like every time it’s different you’re thinking the wave is

Going to be a good one and then all of a sudden it flat is out and you’re just like okay what do I do now but yeah I feel like finding that opportunity to fit two big turns um it’s a it’s it’s a good strategy but of course you got to

Really select the waves and position yourself out there it’s super hard there’s a lot of water moving and um it’s it’s definitely a challenge but it’s a fun one you have your lineups Jesse that you want to share there yeah I I’m not competing anymore so this is a

Great opportunity it’s you’re an open R now no I was I wasn’t ever a guy that hided much but I should have maybe more than but yeah there’s definitely lineups here there’s lineups for me that were to be in position and lineups to not get

Caught by sets I’m like if I’m here I’m clear like if it’s 12 foot and I’m here I’m I’m safe please share where is that actually it’s in front of my every need to know that might be the house that we’re sitting right here it’s the corner

Of the house I remember always sitting by there that You’ be like if it’s a big day if I battle I don’t know 20 foot deep I can catch waves and if a big set cleaning up comes mostly on a form in heater the Qs like you really have to

Manage your time well and I was like okay I can get sneak by the big sets that swing and I think it might be this H are the one over I’m not sure I love it I love this part of your crew sharing everything as we look at Gabriel Medina important wave for

Him trying to hang on to the turbulence off the top now a fading comeb back chasing a 584 for to avoid the elimination round nice clean top turn already checking his time on the Apple watch and we’ll see if he’ll get a little bit closer but definitely look hard for him

To really engage on that first section Fleet pick yeah unfortunately for him that first section as we see Matt right now looks like a good wave but throws down the wrap and it does grow ahead of him nice oncoming section to throw the drift and he’ll step by off

So yeah every wave they take off on we hav have to wait to see what’s in store for him and Medina definitely had a challenging wave to ride on that last exchange yeah definitely it seemed like the wave um had a lot of lump and he got

So much speed trying to um go around the section that actually once he had the opportunity to do a turn he had almost too much speed and he kind of lost a Rao throughout the turn and you see um Eli up and rden Eli hanaman keeping a higher

Line now down to the bottom of the wave trying to slow down now a nice adjustment getting spit out what a great read and so happy to celebrate a fun moment in this match up it’s been challenging to find some nice Clear Water he really had to slam on the

Brakes to enjoy that tube ride Felipe yeah you know Sun that with you know the big old open Waves that we have we got so much speed and sometimes just super hard to slow down um as you see he went super like low on the on the wave so he

Could wipe up all that speed and then just pared into the barrel and that that section you know got got peit out super gnarly but um yeah definitely a good score for him and then back to that wave for Medina that first turn was really tough yeah almost just a little too much

Speed for the section getting a little bit more flat than he expected and he really needed that first turn cuz that was the best section of the of the wave and Eli here finding that double up this is a dreamy way for for today like um Philipe said just nice long bottom turn

To slow himself down and getting a big spit which is not so typical for um Sunset and yeah perfectly reading wave there for Eli he’s going to get a good score so good to see proud of his jersey number 60 as a rookie points to it and

Takes a bow Medina now still riding before we hit the buzzer 5 Seconds still on the clock chasing a a 7.01 now and we’ll see if he did anything when he took off on his final wave of the opening round Heat number nine Eli hanaman meanwhile gets a

6.77 for the barrel mcil drops to Second even with the 833 and last score of Medina already in in the two-point range so he’ll be having another round to Surf later we’ll see what happened on this one Jesse Yeah just looks like oh actually the wave doubled up I thought

He was coming in but yeah he was w on the inside already that wave but we’re getting even a more stacked um elimination round now with gabro G definitely and also him having a tough loss at pipe often times he’s in the final or winning that event and so he

Definitely wants to avoid an elimination round loss later on today fipe too absolute hero uh can’t thank you enough for joining us today because we already started missing you when you made your statement so we really appreciate your time and uh I know you’re gonna get some

Great Waves uh along the way this year and definitely enjoy your family as well thank you so much really appreciate yeah it’s going to be a good time relax surf enjoy the family and come back to you guys next year that’s right anything you want to share about trips coming up or

You just going to kind of go with the flow really yeah first first steps just go back home and get on their routine with the kids school drop offs and pickups and serf session with the kids and you know get my training going and um yeah but pretty soon pretty soon I’ll

Be flying around and chasing waves Val Monro thank you appreciate your time we’ll take a quick break as we continue with the hurle pro Sunset Beach hean Gentile taking on ealo Ferrera and Jacob Wilcox right after this

2x back-to-back current World Champ Filipe Toledo joins the broadcast and talks withdrawal from 2024 Championship Tour. Toledo sticks around and calls Gabriel Medina, Matthew McGillivray and Eli Hanneman’s Opening Round heat.

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Since it hosted the first Championship Tour event ever in 1976, Sunset Beach has long stood as an old-school test of power surfing. And while timeless rail-to-rail surfing still dominates, a new school of surfers is beginning to redefine the wave with a more modern approach. Who will win out, and who heads to colder waters on a hot streak?

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