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The world's elite surfers on the WSL Championship Tour are gathered at storied Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii for event number one of the 2023 season with South Africa's Matthew McGillivray among them.
The stand out from Jeffrey's Bay is looking forward to another full season on the CT after his heroics of last year saw him retain his place on the Tour that every surfer dreams of campaigning on.
Although Matt was eliminated in Round 2 of the Billabong Pro Pipeline, its early in the piece with plenty of surfing opportunities still to come.
Speaking to the World Surf League, McGillivray said he was super-excited to start off another year and have this opportunity to be on the CT.
"The off-season was a lot of fun - it was so nice to have a break for once," said Matt.
"Its been a long time, pretty-much since I started the Qualifying Series more than seven years ago, that I have been able to spend some time off at home.
"I made the most of it with the family and got into a bit of a routine training-wise which was great as there's never really a routine when you're on the road and travelling so much."
McGillivray said he'd also been able to pursue his other crazy hobbies of base jumping and ski diving as he totally reset ahead of the new season.
He added that Olympic Qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France was a big goal for both himself and fellow South African Jordy Smith.
"Its certainly the golden egg if you can make the Olympics, which requires being in the top-10 on the WSL come the cut-off date, so my sights are certainly set on that prize."
25-year-old McGillivray also landed a sought-after headline sponsor recently when Vissla Surf announced that they were 'stoked' to be welcoming McGillivray onto their team.
Vissla describes itself as a surfing brand that represents creative freedom, a forward-thinking philosophy, and a generation of creators and innovators
“I’m super excited to be joining Vissla,” said Matt.
I’m honoured to be included on the team with some amazing humans. I love what the brand is about and this is a special opportunity for me. I look forward to a fun journey ahead and want to create some cool projects and share my passion for surfing.”
