WSL / BRENT BIELMANN
Jeffreys Bay professional surfer Matthew McGillivray has been confirmed for the start of the World Surf League's 2022 elite Championship Tour.
After landing just below the cut line at the end of the 2021 Championship Tour season, McGillivray will receive the WSL Replacement spot for the Billabong Pro Pipeline and Hurley Pro Sunset Beach due to Yago Dora's foot injury and subsequent withdrawal from the events.
"I stayed in Hawaii after the last Challenger Series event until just after Christmas," McGillivray told the WSL.
"The borders to South Africa were shut due to omicron, so I was waiting to see if they would open. Sure enough, the borders opened up right before New Years, so I came home for two weeks to chill with the family and then headed back to Hawaii on the 14th of January to start training again."
A rookie last season, McGillivray's best result came at the Boost Mobile Margaret River Pro, where he finished third.
"It was surreal to surf on tour in 2021. I was traveling with Morgan Cibilic and Jay Thompson was coaching us," McGillivray explains. "I learned a lot about myself and my mindset. There was so much I was working on in my surfing technically and in the way I surfed heats and made decisions under pressure."
"I was so sad when I just missed the cut line for 2022 after Mexico. I had worked so hard to be there on Tour and then that dream slipped through my fingertips, so I'm excited now to have the opportunity to surf more CT events again."
McGillivray should feel good about his prospects in Hawaii. He finished 9th at last year's Pipe event, falling to eventual winner John John Florence. He also put together a dream run at Sunset when he qualified for the CT back in 2019.
The waiting period for the Billabong Pro Pipeline gets underway on the 29th of January.
