Alejo’s post-heat talk after requalifying was full of real emotion. Something we love. Photo: WSL
It’s been a banner year for surfing post-heat interviews. Now there’s a sentence that has never been written. When it comes to the post-heat interviews, it’s usually a case of quantity over quality. Surfers put a cap on, talk about the 6.5 they needed, the boards they rode, or what they’re doing for the rest of the afternoon. You can portion blame; take your pick from the interviewers’ lack of imagination, the surfers’ expertise in deflection, language barriers, the lack of drama in most heat situations or the WSL’s guidelines; often it’s a combination of all the above.
The result is mostly a bland three minutes of broadcasting where you often come out knowing less than when the interview started. That’s why the exceptions are so infamous. Bobby Martinez’s “I don’t want to be a part of this fucking dumb, wannabe tennis tour,” interview with Todd Kline from the Quiksilver Pro New York in 2011 has entered surfing folklore.
In 2014, I was the interviewer when Jeremy Flores pulled me apart live on air over criticism of his surfing I’d written in Surfline’s Power Rankings. My voice raised three octaves in panic before Jez eventually let me off the hook, but it caused a minor stir as a rare example of a surfer talking honestly with hostility. And for an interviewer soiling his pants on a webcast.
There have been slim, memorable, pickings since. The Inertia covered a Mason Ho interview with Peter Mel at the Pipe Masters back in 2015, which showed Mase in all his awkward, natural, incomprehensible glory.
In 2019, Luke Cederman showed the comedic chops that would define his Raglan Report with a humour(ish) chat with a bemused interviewer.
I mean, there must be more. There must be some Gabriel and Italo hot takes about judging. Was Kelly announcing one of his many retirements mildly entertaining? Maybe you surf fans can help me out. Or let me know if anyone has ever heard John John say anything of interest, ever?
In any case, 2024 has been much, much better. Perhaps it was Caity Simmers who set the tone with her interview with Strider in the water after her Pipeline win. “Pipeline’s for the f****** girls,” was fun, raw and, unfiltered. Who’d have thought such madness would resonate with sports fans all over the world?
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Later at Bells, Gabriel Medina, came out swinging on the glass with Laura Enever after a defeat by Cole Houshmand. He started with, “This is the worst judging I’ve ever seen,” and ended with, “We pretend it’s not happening. It’s happening and it’s bad for the sport.” Now complaining about judging is the surfing equivalent of talking about insurance at a dinner party, but still, it was Gabe being unafraid to voice his real opinion – and while they may be like arseholes, they stink less coming from a three-time world champion.
On the other end of the spectrum, we had Samuel Pupo breaking down in tears after his heat with his brother in Margaret River that saw Miguel miss the cut. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without him, I may not even be surfing, so to get him off tour is a loss for me. It hurts so much,” sobbed the younger Pupo. People may not like the cut, but if it gives that much raw emotion after a heat in a mid-year event in four-foot Mainbreak, what’s not to love?
However, it was Alejo Muniz’s interview after he had secured re-qualification for the Championship Tour in the Challenger Series event in Portugal that has a claim to be surfing’s most emotional of all time. Fresh out of the water, he is buckled by the happiness and relief that his eight-year quest to join the CT was finally over. The Brazilian had dropped off tour in 2016, endured full reconstructions on both knees and finished just a few heats short of making it multiple times. For a jaded hack, as Alejo tearfully explained just how much it meant to him, it was strange to actually feel something.
Sure, these might be outliers. Aussie cyberpro Joel Vaughan wasn’t exactly Robin Williams popping on all cylinders when he talked about his recent CT qualification in Saquerema. And the less said about Edgard Groggia’s four-minute Portuguese monologue response to a single question the better. However, as the post-heat interview ain’t going anywhere, it’s nice to think they are getting better.
