Torquay surfers Xavier Huxtable, Carly Shanahan earn Victorian wildcards for Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
A decision three years ago to pack up her life in NSW and move down south at just 18 has paid off for Carly Shanahan with a place in this week’s Rip Curl Pro.
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They’ve taken her in as one of their own and Rip Curl Pro wildcard Carly Shanahan was ready to make the most of her first championship start in front of a supportive Bells Beach home crowd.
In arguably one of the toughest initiations the 21-year-old could have faced, Shanahan was pitted against reigning world champion and US teen Caitlin Simmers, and fellow American Lakey Peterson – whose husband Thomas Allan is originally from Bells – in her opening heat on Friday morning.
An early wipe-out had Shanahan behind the eightball as Simmers and Peterson took hold of the break – Shanahan’s solid ride in the closing minutes her only consolation as she was sent through to an elimination round heat against another former world champion in Caroline Marks and Brazilian Luana Silva.
Growing up in Wooli, a small NSW town south of Yamba, a decision to move to Torquay three years ago paid off for the 21-year-old Shanahan when she took out Tuesday’s Rip Curl Pro Victorian trials to earn a wildcard entry into this week’s draw.
“Two of my best friends moved down here and I guess, I was 18 and I wanted a change and wanted to move away and figure things out for myself,” Shanahan said ahead of her Rip Curl Pro debut.
“I think the Torquay community has definitely taken me in and have been way more supportive than I ever could have imagined, and I can’t believe I’ve got this opportunity – I’m frothing.
And it’s with the Jan Juc Boardriders Club Shanahan has found a second family – with the entire club down at Winkipop to watch her take out the wildcard in a nailbiting final.
“They’ve took me in two years ago and been like family ever since,” she said.
“It was awesome (winning the wildcard), having all my mates down there obviously made it even better.”
Surfing the breaks at Bells Beach in the Rip Curl Pro has long been a pipedream for Shanahan – and one she was excited to realise this week.
“I’ve been watching the Bells event since I was seven, when I first started surfing – it’s always been so iconic,” she said.
“To be able to ring the bell would be so cool and do be able to surf in it against all the surfers I’ve looked up to my whole life is pretty sick.”
Down at Bells Beach on Thursday morning for a surf with the Rising Tides WSL girls program – for young girls from around the area – it was then off to the airport for Shanahan to pick up her mum in what has been a whirlwind few days for the emerging surfer.
“Most of them (Rising Tides participants) I already surf with all the time at Juc, so it was just cool, they’re pretty excited as well as I am,” she said.
“It’s definitely been a very overwhelming few days but I’m very excited – I’m going to make the most of it.”
Huxtable, Shanahan earn wildcards, Torquay’s top finish at Australian Boardriders Battle
Torquay surfers Xavier Huxtable and Carly Shanahan have been handed wildcard entries into this week’s Rip Curl Pro.
Huxtable edged out fellow Torquay surfers Willis Droomer and Tully Wylie in Tuesday’s trials to secure his ticket into the famous Bells Beach event, scoring the two best rides – a 7.17 and 8.17 – of the final.
Meanwhile, Shanahan landed a strong 8.00 in the women’s final to hold off Mornington Peninsula’s Sara Hickson by just 0.34, Hickson going hard late with pair of six-point rides.
It came just days after Huxtable led the Torquay Boardriders Clubs to a runners-up finish at the Australian Boardriders Battle national finals on Sunday.
In a nailbiting final at Burleigh Heads on Sunday against North Shore and Merewether, Torquay – a late wildcard into the event – made a charge for the title when Tully Wylie dropped an 8.45, followed by Ellie Harrison’s sharp 7.28, to edge the club into a narrow lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
With the title on the line as it came down to the final surfers, Huxtable – who was named the Oakley Prizm performer for the weekend – tried to hunt down North Shore’s Alister Reginato’s score of 5.88 to no avail, Torquay finishing 1.16 short of North Shore’s 39.34.
Harrison – Torquay’s open women’s competitor and the breakout star at last year’s Rip Curl Pro as a wildcard – said she was “so proud” of the club after the close loss.
“I thought it might have been our time this year but hopefully we’ll get it done at the next ABB,” Harrison said.
Clubs earn their place at the national titles through state qualifying rounds, with Torquay among 42 clubs competing in the tag-team relay event.
Teams of five – comprising of an open male and female surfer, a junior, a masters and a power surfer – are also forced to navigate the challenging Burleigh rock jump and a 500m sprint up Burleigh Hill.
Huxtable and Harrison were also among six pairs to be announced as Domestic Adventure with O invitees – for a remote camping adventure with former WSL pro surfer Owen Wright.
- The 2025 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach’s event window runs from April 18-28.
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Originally published as Torquay surfers Xavier Huxtable, Carly Shanahan earn Victorian wildcards for Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
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