THIS was big Easter Sunday, the day the final of the Rip Curl Pro turned on one of the greatest exhibitions of surfing in its 50-year history.
For five days the swell was up and waves were pumping through the Bells Bowl. Twenty-year-old Sally Fitzgibbons thrilled surf fans and her family when she won the women's event the day before. And yesterday the men did not disappoint.
Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning were the form surfers of the event, despite South African Jordy Smith and Brazilian pair Adriano de Souza and Jadson Andre, the latter taking down four-time winner Kelly Slater, all staking a claim for the famous bell trophy.
It was Parkinson who prevailed in a final worthy of the event's 50th anniversary and afterwards he said his third Bells title felt gold-plated.
His final wave of the competition, which he caught as the closing hooter sounded, delivered the only perfect score of 10 during the contest and ended with the 30-year-old three-time winner getting barrelled in front of a huge crowd lining the beach.
''Bells is one of those places where you're unsure when you ride a wave, you get to the end and think 'what happened or what did I do','' he said. ''I knew it was a strong wave and probably the strongest of the heat, but I wasn't sure it was a 10.''
Whether it was worthy of a 10 or not, 'Parko' and Fanning had just re-written the record books with a final that began with AC/DC's Hells Bells blaring out across the beach and ended with the vanquished trying to carry his mate up the beach.
''I'm stuffed, I thought I was Mr Fitness trying to chair Joel up the beach and crumbled halfway, he's gotten too big,'' Fanning said.
Fanning, who won as a wildcard at Bells Beach 10 years ago, said his second consecutive runner-up finish was not what he was hoping for, but the event had been a wonderful success.
''This week I just had so much fun, I wasn't stressed out about how my body was feeling or how my board was feeling, I just rocked up and had to tick the boxes 15 minutes before I paddled out and everything was ticked - just couldn't tick the last one,'' he said. ''It was an amazing week, we were blessed with waves [and] having all that history down here was incredible, everywhere you looked there was a legend with their own story. It was the best Bells ever and congratulations to Rip Curl for doing an amazing job.''
Having blitzed through the opening rounds Fanning defeated Andre in yesterday's quarter-final and Smith in the semi-final. Parkinson's route to the decider included yesterday's quarter-final win against Lennox Head surfer Owen Wright and a semi-final win against de Souza.
''After the semi-finals I thought I was in pretty good form, but he [Fanning] was in great form and I knew it was going to be a tough match-up,'' Parkinson said after ringing the winner's trophy. ''It was one of those days I was in rhythm. I can't explain why, you never can.''
Earlier in the day de Souza knocked Slater out of the contest and the 10-time world champion was visibly disappointed.
Slater punched his surf board as he climbed back up the steps and later said he failed to find his own rhythm throughout the event.
''Not my day, not my week and that happens,'' the 39-year-old said.
''Adriano is one of the most intense guys on the tour, he's really passionate and never gives up. You can have him in a tough situation in a heat and he never doubts himself [and] he's really improved in all aspects of his surfing.''
Chris Davidson, 34, from North Narrabeen, won a quarter-final spot against Smith after beating Tahitian surfer Michel Bourez.
''I'm really stoked with my effort here at Bells, but it would have been good to get through and ring that bell,'' Davidson said after placing equal fifth.
''Ahead of [the next round in] Brazil it's definitely been a confidence boost and I'm just looking forward to the rest of the year, staying strong and hopefully getting a few more results locked in for a good ratings place.''
Head judge of the Association of Surfing Professionals, Rich Porta, said ''this week has been as good as it gets'' for an international surf event.
''It's good to keep everything flowing and that's why the boys and the girls have been ripping.'' He said the surf had come to the party.
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