Gisborne's Stella Smith produced a buzzer-beating ride in her open women's round 3 surfing heat of the ISA world SUP & Paddleboard Championship in El Salvador, but was knocked out in the semifinals. Photo / ISA-Pablo Franco
“It was a nice wave, really fun,” Smith said.
Smith and Wink were in the same heat in the main draw Round 1. Smith placed second with a total of 9.33 (4.83/4.50) for her two best waves, while Wink was third with 5.20.
The pair were also pitted against each other in Round 2. Smith was second with 7.67 (4.10/3.57) and Wink (5.33) – having been through a repechage – was third and eliminated.
Smith won her Round 3 heat with her best score of the competition – 10.50 (5.33/5.17) – to advance to the semifinals. In what was the last heat of the day, Smith produced a buzzer-beating ride to jump from third to first.
The top two from each three-woman semifinal made the final. Smith was third with 9.03 (4.53/4.50), while Peru’s Vania Torres won with 13.67. Brazilian Gabriela Sztamfater was second with 11.80.
Torres went on to win the final with a 12.43 total, just 0.37 ahead of Lucia Cosoleto of Argentina.
It was Smith’s fourth ISA world championships. Her best result was third in China in 2018.
Stella Smith hard at work on a wave during the ISA World SUP & Paddleboard Championship. She was fifth-equal overall in the open women's surfing competition. Photo / ISA-Pablo Jiminez
“This time was different,” she said. “There were a lot of new girls, all of them high-level surfers, probably the highest level I have surfed against.
“It was a really strong, competitive field, which made it really challenging, but a good challenge for me.”
Smith said fifth was tough to swallow because the top four made the podium.
“I got unlucky in my semifinal because there weren’t as many waves coming through. I felt a bit disappointed, for sure.
“But in saying that, given the short notice of five weeks ahead of the worlds trip, to come out with a fifth place in that short time span was pretty cool.
“The support that I had to fund the trip was amazing,” said the daughter of Wainui couple Gary Smith and Chrissie Falwasser. “It all came through the Gisborne community. I would not have been able to go without that support, and I’m super grateful.”
