Elijah Fox and Tia Blanco, both surfers hailing from California, took home the championships in their respective divisions for the Rip Curl Pro Tofino 2018 competition.

As the fog stayed away and the sun never left, conditions were pumping on the final day of the 2018 Rip Curl Pro Tofino, as 10 champions were crowned in Canada’s longest running surf competition, May 13 at Cox Bay.

All photos by Kyler Vos.

Sunday’s heats kicked off in dramatic fashion, with seven-time Rip Curl Pro champ and local favourite Peter Devries coming up short in a stacked heat against Canadians Shannon Brown and Cody Young. The drama continued, as finals kicked off in the late morning. By day’s end, champions in each division had been crowned, with the likes of California’s Elijah Fox and Tia Blanco capturing top spot in the men and women’s Pro divisions.

“It was so fun out there,” said Blanco. “The conditions were so amazing, it was pumping. I had a blast and I’m just super pumped to be here at the Rip Curl Pro.”

After bowing out in last year’s semifinals, Fox stormed back with a vengeance throughout his three-day charge to the podium. “I’m so stoked right now,” he said. “The waves were so hard at first, long paddle outs but conditions improved, the swell dropped to the perfect size and it was so fun. Hurting myself last year in the semis…I barely surfed this year and to win it is amazing. This win just gives me confidence and makes me want to compete even more.”

Tofino local and the most recent addition to the Rip Curl team Mathea Olin also returned to the the top of the podium, after laying down a combined score of 13.60 in her final heat to edge out younger sister Sanoa, who posted a score of 12.33.

“It felt great [to win the U-16 division],” said Olin. “The waves were insane and my body was feeling a lot better than it was last week. I was super psyched to sign with Rip Curl and for everybody on the team to be up here, I’m so happy to be part of the team.”

After a 34-heat day, the 12th annual Rip Curl Pro Tofino wrapped up in style in front of hundreds of fans, family and athletes, making this one of the most memorable Pros to date.

Final day results

Pro Mens : Final : Heat 1
1st: Elijah Fox (14.77)
2nd: Dane Anderson (13.43)

Pro Mens : Semifinal : Heat 1
1st: Elijah Fox (16.70)
2nd: Shannon Campbell-Brown (11.73)

Pro Mens : Semifinal : Heat 2
1st: Dane Anderson (14.40)
2nd: Cody Young (13.70)

Pro/Am Womens: Final
1st: Tia Blanco (15.50)
2nd: Mathea Olin (13.53)
3rd: Hanna Scott (11.43)
4th: Leah Oke (11.03)

Pro/Am Womens : Semifinal : Heat 1
1st: Leah Oke (11.10)
2nd: Hanna Scott (9.10)
3rd: Catherine Bruhwiler (6.46)
4th: Sanoa Passion Dempfle-Olin (1.17)

Pro/Am Womens : Semifinal : Heat 2
1st: Mathea Olin (12.20)
2nd: Tia Blanco (11.20)
3rd: Paige Alms (7.63)
4th: Bethany Zelasko

Open Mens: Final
1st: Reed Platenius (12.47)
2nd: Lincoln Brown (8.76)
3rd: Andrew Sadler (8.60)
4th: Jack Gallan (6.23)

U16 Boys: Final
1st: Reed Platenius (16.03)
2nd: Finn Spencer (13.33)
3rd: Boston Leier (10.93)
4th: Jack Gallan (8.73)
5th: Seth Stere (7.84)
6th: Riley James Stoski (4.50)

U16 Girls: Final : Heat 1
1st: Mathea Olin (13.60)
2nd: Sonoa Passion Dempfle-Olin (12.33)
3rd: Jasmine Porter (7.96)
4th: Keanna Hasz (5.16)

Longboard Mens : Final
1st: Christian Thomson (13.13)
2nd: Darren Lundquist (11.97)
3rd: Robbie Ferguson (11.00)
4th: Asia Dryden (9.73)
5th: Douglas De La Mare (6.23)
6th: Ben Cockcroft (2.50)

Longboard Women’s: Final
1st: Paige Alms (11.07)
2nd: Hanna Scott (10.73)
3rd: Kate Prothero (5.84)
4th: Emily Ballard (4.50)

Masters (35+): Final
1st: Declan Lee-Smith (14.50)
2nd: Ben Murphy (11.70)
3rd: Greg Urata (11.40)
4th: Catherine Bruhwiler (10.06)
5th: David Suchiaffino (9.00)
6th: Jeremy Bowery (6.46)

Legends (50+): Final
1st: Ben Cockcroft (15.16)
2nd: Harold Sadler (13.26)
3rd: Douglas Ludwig (12.06)
4th: Anthony Redpath (4.17)
5th: Dan Holtendorp (2.90)
6th: Richard Harris ( ——)