competing under the banner of the multi-billion-dollar company at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in a momentous change to the sport's landscape.
The opening day at Bells ran mostly to script. It was cold at the start. Even colder at the end. The ocean frothed and hissed and rumbled with raw energy. Joel Parkinson mesmerised like a wizard in a wetsuit. Stephanie Gilmore and Mick Fanning were slick and assured. Kelly Slater was commanding. Wilson and Enever both lost, but Nike won't be ripping up their contracts just yet. First-round heats weren't sudden-death, so defeats were less than than disastrous.
Enever, the extroverted 19-year-old from Sydney, stars in a feature-length surfing movie that is about to be Nike's next push into surf culture.
She has recently done a promotional photo shoot in New York with a stable of Nike's premier athletes and when her first flick, Leave A Message, premieres in the US next month, her global profile will go through the roof.
Nike pinched the prized signatures of Wilson and Enever from under the noses of the big three surfing companies: Quiksilver, Rip Curl and Billabong. Those traditional surfing brands have controlled pro surfing for decades but Nike wants in.Enever and Wilson are regarded as future world champions. Wilson's deal is understood to be worth a staggering $6 million.
Having beaten four-time world champion Gilmore en route to the semi-finals of the season-opening Roxy Pro at Snapper Rocks, Enever was beaten by Silvana Lima yesterday after Wilson, the 22-year-old from Coolum, had succumbed to another Brazilian, Adriano de Souza.
Like Taj Burrow, they receive another chance in round two.
"It was an incredible experience," Enever said of making Leave A Message. "I can't wait for it to come out. Being a part of the team and this movie is actually an honour for me."
