Isabella Nichols Celebrates ‘Best Day of Her Life’ at Bells Beach
Less than two weeks after finishing runner-up at the Surf City El Salvador Pro, Queenslander Isabella Nichols has claimed victory at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, overcoming Luana Silva (BRA) in an epic Final on the Bells Bowl. After falling short of the Mid-season Cut for the last couple of seasons, today’s result has put the young Australian up to fourth on the rankings, as she now shifts her focus to her home event on the Championship Tour (CT). Today marks Nichols’ second CT victory from four Finals, and by her own omission, this is the sweetest.
“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling right now. This is definitely the best day of my life,” Nichols said. “Ever since winning in Margaret River three years ago, I’ve just been chasing this feeling ever since, and I never thought that feeling could be topped, but getting carried up the stairs by my dad and coach and having most of my family here, it’s just an emotion I can’t describe. Every year I come here and look at those stairs and the names on them, and the thought of having my name on there amongst all of those others is such a dream.”
From the opening exchange of the Final, Nichols looked destined for the win, finding one of the best waves of the 40-minute matchup, and not wasting a moment, laying massive rail turns and snapping out of the lip with pure commitment to post an 8.33 (out of a possible 10) while Silva on the wave behind managed a 6.67. On her next scoring wave, Nichols posted a 7.93 for a heat total of 16.26 (out of a possible 20), which was too much for Silva to chase down, leaving Nichols to join an illustrious list of Bells winners from over six decades of competition at this famed stretch of coast.
“A comp win is a comp win, but being proud of your performance you’ve put in through the week and through the month is something different,” Nichols continued. “How you surf is one thing but for me it’s so much about the decisions you make in a heat and I’ve been coming out of the water proud of that and feeling like I’m in a rhythm for the first time is great because I’ve lost a loit of heats from not making good decisions. I’ve been coming to Bells for years, training in conditions like this, so I felt really ready for today.”
Surfing Queensland is proud of her victory and we look forward to watching her compete on home turf at the Gold Coast Pro at Burleigh Heads from 3–13 May.
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Men’s Final Results:
1 – Jack Robinson (AUS) 14.14
2 – Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.87
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Women’s Final Results:
1 – Isabella Nichols (AUS) 16.26
2 – Luana Silva (BRA) 12.67
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Men’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 10.27 DEF. Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 5.37
HEAT 2: Jack Robinson (AUS) 14.67 DEF. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14.33
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Women’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Luana Silva (BRA) vs. Brisa Hennessy (CRC)
HEAT 2: Isabella Nichols (AUS) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Men’s Quarterfinal Remaining Results [3 – 4]:
HEAT 3: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 17.56 DEF. Samuel Pupo (BRA) 14.83
HEAT 4: Jack Robinson (AUS) 15.94 DEF. Jake Marshall (USA) 14.57
Next Up: Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro Presented By GWM
The Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro Presented By GWM will hold a competition window from May 3 through May 13, 2025. The event will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com, and the free WSL App. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL’s broadcast partners.
The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Presented by Bonsoy is proudly supported by Rip Curl, Bonsoy, Visit Victoria, Red Bull, YETI, Apple Watch, Surfline, True Surf, Surf Coast Shire, GWM, Stone & Wood, Oakberry, Hydralyte, Boost Mobile, Bioglan, Bond University, and Fatboy E-bikes.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com
