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Warming up for Bells Beach at Melbourne’s best, uh, left

Part of being a pro is having to go out when the surf is small, blown out or big and blown out or just plain ugly. This is the big, unglamorous side of being paid to surf. Conditions most of us would ditch in favor of a warm cup of coffee is the stuff pros force themselves into on the daily. Fortunately, when all these bad conditions start to take their toll on everyone’s psyche, wave pools offer a respite.

“The waves have been really small and windy at bells and Winkipop and we thought it was the best option to come here to the pool and surf,” said Filipe Toledo. “We get to share the pool with friends and actually get to try out our boards for the event.”

Despite Bells and Winkipop being highly sought-after rights apparently, Urbnsurf just 90 minutes away, only had the left session available. No matter. In the clip, Filipe runs through a quiver of boards and compares the hectic pace of wave pool board changes to an F1 pit stop – a nice tie-in to the Formula1 tour that just blew through Melbourne.


“Summit