Who Won The First-Ever Natural Selection Surf?

Milla Brown said on her Natural Selection experience, "I reckon there's for sure a future in this style of comps. It's like a big trip with all your friends but there's still the competitive side. It's just better vibes, everyone is cheering each other on. It was the best comp I've ever been in--it was so much fun"

The score-less judging system didn't seem to interfere with the fan engagement in the slightest, results were unanimously accepted and the fast-paced viewing (no waiting in between sets) made for an easy watching and entertaining surf contest. One fan commented, "enjoying this more than WSL, can't watch more than like 2 minutes of it and this is golden."

Eithan Osborne, Al Cleland Jr, Noah Beschen, and Soli Bailey put on a show in the semi-finals, the slightly smaller surf allowed for more big turns and demanded precise tube riding, very tricky conditions requiring a combination of finesse and power. 

Al Cleland Jr and Eithan Osborne went hard throughout their heat, with Eithan opening up strong grabbing 4 waves before Al got one, then Al started to swing back and didn’t let up until the heat was done and advancing into the final. 

Soli Bailey and Noah Beschen surfed a good heat although the surf seemed to come down a notch from the previous round. Soli was in sync with the ocean and caught the lion’s share of the good ones, Noah struggled to find a wave (or a ramp) to really showcase his dynamic style.

Kirra Pinkerton and Milla faced off in the women's final and were well-matched throughout the entire heat, a true head-to-head battle. The deciding factor was Milla's barrel ride which, as the only one of the heat, tipped the scales in her favor. Kirra had some great power carves but couldn't find that one wave to make a really strong impression.

Al Cleland and Soli Bailey faced off in the men's final and had numerous exchanges of solid power surfing, each surfer throwing big turns and sending spray blasts far out into wind. It was Soli Bailey's sneaky barrel ride, disappearing fully into the crumbly cavern for multiple seconds before flying out the other end and claiming the lead. Al was the slight fan favorite going into the final and although his surfing looked on point, he couldn't match Soli's wave selection and momentum.