It’s taken a few days to write some thoughts. First off, huge congrats to both #88 @stephaniegilmore and #77 @filipetoledo for their surfing mastery and world title wins the other day, both hugely deserving champions. Since first seeing Steph compete and win as a young girl on the Gold Coast, I knew she was destined to the greatest female surfer of our time with her effortless grace and beautiful style on a wave. I’m not sure she thought she would still be competing or winning world titles at this point a few years back. And this year started off throwing her for a loop but competition does funny things to people and she won an unlikely title this year, giving huge praise to @rissmoore10 in the process. And while she currently holds 8 titles, Carissa is nipping at her heels and will surely be pushing to see who finishes their career with the most titles. Without competitive challengers like Carissa I don’t think Steph would be able to dig deep and find that inner strength to go beyond just her natural talent. They are both incredible surfers I love to watch. I can only imagine how hard it was for Carissa to lose the title the other day but she was graceful in defeat and handled it like the pro she is. As for @filipetoledo, this guy is a freak talent. Watching him win the Junior US Open in Huntington when everyone was focused on his 3 competitors in JJ, Kolohe and Conner was startling. His speed and reflexes are unmatched in pro surfing, and while we’ve seen him make everything, we’re always amazed at what he pulls off. Congratulations on your moment and your title. It’s been a long time coming but was always in the cards. You are a very deserving champion, a great father, a friend to many, and we are all fans of you as a person.