Californian double: Houshmand and Simmers champions at Bells
Colapinto has pulled away at the top of the rankings, Simmers is back; these are in the top 5 today and these are in danger heading into the pre-cut stage at Margaret River
Cover photo: WSL/Sloane
Californians Cole Houshmand and Caitlin Simmers were crowned champions of the 61st edition of the Bells Classic, the fourth stage of the CT that concluded in blown but consistent waves of head size to above head size.
Houshmand used the same powerful backside attack that had won her series all week, and Simmers used that fluidity, speed and radicalism that, when she shows them, make her unbeatable.
In the grand final, Houshmand won by 13,5 to 12,8 against his friend and mentor, Griffin Colapint, as he called him, and Simmers beat the French Johanne Defay by 12,77 to 11,6.
With this result, champion Houshmand moved up 18 places in the rankings, from being outside the qualifying zone to eighth place, while Simmers retook the lead of the rankings by a narrow margin 27355 versus 27290.
The top 5 making the finals right now is as follows:
Female:
1: Caitlin Simmers
2: Johanne Defay
3: Molly Picklum
4: Caroline Marks
5: Bettylou Sakura Johnson
Male
1: Griffin Colapinto
2: Ethan Ewing
3: John John Florence
4: Jake Marshall
5: Jack Robinson
As far as the cut is concerned, all of the following surfers are in a compromised situation heading into the Margaret River leg which runs from April 11-21:
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