Cover photo: WSL

Tube rider, free surfer and one of the most respected WSL commentators, Strider Wasilewski was critical of Filipe Toledo's performance in his debut at this year's CT which took place yesterday at Pipeline.

After Toledo had only scored 0,5 on a single wave surfed after 28 minutes of heat and commentators Joe Turpel, Laura Enever and guest Molly Picklum noted on more than one occasion that Toledo could have gone on waves that he let pass and ended up being points for others, the Californian said: "He needs to get those butterflies out of his stomach because right now you can see the hesitation, you can see him looking to the right."

“I want to see him elevate his game and surf Pipeline the way he can. He has the talent, he just needs to get over the fear factor,” he added.

He then turned to Molly and Laura, telling them that they know what the big, heavy wave game is like, praising them both for being bossy.

At the start of the series, Wasilewski said: “I’m excited to see Toledo go for it (…) I want to see him go for it on bombs here at Pipe, he’s the world champion.”

After finishing third in that series, Toledo announced that he had suffered food poisoning and was withdrawing from the event.

The highly controversial event brought several criticisms towards the Brazilian and also several defenses.

He himself wrote on his Instagram stories: “To the critics on duty and the world champions who comment on social media, believe what you want to believe. I'm not here to prove anything to you! My health is my priority. To those who root for me, thank you very much, we are together and hahaha, we will be back, better and stronger.”

Filipe Toledo will compete next at Sunset from February 12 to 22.