SURFING
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Mick Fanning has returned to his surfing "home away from home" on the cusp of becoming the first man in more than three decades to ring the iconic bell three times in the space of four years.
Not since the legendary Mark Richards saluted at Bells Beach in 1978-80 and 1982 has any male surfer dominated the Rip Curl Pro for an extended period.
Fanning first won the event as a little-known wildcard in 2001.
But it is in recent times that the three-time world champion has really stamped his authority at the most famed event on the World Surf League with triumphs in 2012 and 2014.
"This is a place I always really look forward to on tour," the 33-year-old Queenslander said on Tuesday.
"It's like home away from home for me - I've been coming here since I was a young kid.
"I just really enjoy surfing the wave and I believe that plays out in the results.
"There are so many different factors that go into Bells, it's not perfect like this every day.
"There are a lot of hard heats and slow heats and then heats where it's changing the take-off spot."
That breakthrough victory by Fanning in 2001 also made a huge impression on six-time women's world champion Stephanie Gilmore, who won her third and most recent title at Bells in 2010.
"I remember being so impressed that a young guy could go down there as a wildcard and win the event, beat all of his heroes when the surf was pumping," she said on Tuesday.
Carissa Moore has won the last two women's events at Bells Beach, with Gilmore saying the Hawaiian star and last year's beaten finalist Tyler Wright, of Australia, again shaped as the two to beat in 2015.
"[For me to win] I just have to do my thing," Gilmore said. "Depending on the forecast it will be about dialling into the right equipment, making sure you're on a board that feels like a magic carpet under your feet.
"When your confidence is high, it doesn't really matter what the ocean throws at you, you can always get a good score and get a win."
The Rip Curl Pro is predicted to start in good conditions on Wednesday.
Gilmore takes on Hawaiians Tatiana Weston-Webb and Alessa Quizon in her heat.
Fanning's first-round opponents are also both from Hawaii - Freddy Patacchia and Mason Ho. - AAP
