After four straight days of heavy, unrelenting action on Oahu's North Shore, it was a career moment for both Brisa Hennessy and Barron Mamiya who have not only won the Sunset Beach Pro but also taken over the top spots on the WSL Leaderboard and will be wearing the yellow leader's jersey when the Championship Tour heads to Portugal next month.
For Hennessy, who faced Hawaiian veteran Malia Manuel in the Final, this marks her first Championship Tour victory and the first CT win ever for a surfer from Costa Rica.
"I have no words, I've dreamed about this moment but I never thought it was possible," Hennessy beamed from the water immediately after the Final. "To all those people that supported me, I did it."
Hennessy represented Costa Rica in last summer's Olympic debut in Japan and requalified for the CT after finishing second on the 2021 Challenger Series. The seventh career Final for Manuel, unfortunately she has now finished runner-up in all of them. She will take solace in knowing she had a great Island leg of the Tour and goes into the Europe leg in prime form.
From start to finish, Hennessy was the in-from surfer of the day.
Up next, the 2022 Championship Tour will head to Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal for the MEO Pro Portugal. The waiting period kicks off on March 3. Stay tuned as the race for the Rip Curl WSL Finals continues.
