TWELVE months ago Ryan Callinan dropped off tour.
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Twenty-four hours ago he was awaiting the round of 16 at a championship event.
Now he's ranked No.6 in the world.
"It's a bit of a blur to be honest," Callinan told World Surf League media during the official presentation.
Simply being back at Bells, let alone going deep into the contest, marked a significant step for Callinan, who'd been forced to requalify via the Challenger Series last year after succumbing to the newly-introduced mid-season cut.
"I mean just to be here competing at Bells, it's one of my favourite events of the year and every year I love it down here," he said.
"I always have a lot of support down here - my aunty and uncle are somewhere up the back in the crowd and we have a really cool house that we're staying at with some really good people.
"The vibes have been so high and I'm just so stoked."
It was an all-Aussie affair in both Bells finals for the first time since 1991 - Callinan defeated by Ethan Ewing in the men's decider before Tyler Wright defended her crown against Molly Picklum in the women's showdown.
Callinan fought until the end, including a buzzer-beating effort of 5.27 for a two-wave combined total of 11, however, ultimately fell short of frontrunner Ewing (14.5) who now joins his mother Helen Lambert (1983) on the Bells honour roll.
Thurt-year-old Callinan was unable to recapture the momentum which had carried him throughout Tuesday's hectic schdeule - getting past French rookie Maxime Huscenot in the round of 16, US surfer Griffin Colapinto in the quarters and Hawaii's John John Florence in the semis.
An aerial move late in the semi was a game-changing moment for Callinan, dubbed by commentators as "insane".
Only once before had he reached a WSL championship tour final, back in France in 2018, and this surpassed his semis appearance at Bells in 2019.
When asked about the prospect of making more finals in 2023, Callinan, holding a Bells runner-up trophy, replied: "Yeah definitely, I'm excited. I'd just like to say thankyou to my coach. I don't get the opportunity to be on stage very often so I just want to thank him for pushing me a lot and just always wanting me to improve and be the best I can be. He's done a fantastic job this week."
"It's just the biggest weight off my shoulders," Callinan said earlier.
"This year that was kind of my goal, just in the first five events to make sure I got in there. Last year was definitely difficult. I'm just stoked to be on for the whole year and get another shot in the back half [of the season]."
He will now arrive at Margaret River next week (April 20-30) without any of that pressure.
Back got within 0.1 of reigning world champion Filipe Toledo (Brazil) during a dramatic quarter-final at Bells on Tuesday. Both competitors were on the shore waiting for scores to drop after the heat.
Novocastrians to previously claim the Bells title are Mark Richards (1978, 1979, 1980, 1982), Nicky Wood (1987) and Matt Hoy (1997).
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