In 2021, João Chianca’s dreams came true when he qualified for the Championship Tour. When the world shut down due to COVID, Chianca took to the ocean and spent a lot of time in the water, surfing and training.
“For me, it felt like time stopped and I had all the time in the world to do one thing, which was surfing,” says Chianca. “I surfed every single day of the pandemic. (The year) 2020 was a turning point for me where by the end, I was not even close to where I was in the beginning. Qualifying in the end of 2021 was amazing.”
“My favorite heat of my rookie year was a wave against John [Florence] at [Bells Beach],” says Chianca. “I was so happy to finally surf out of my skin and surf my very best. I was so confident about anything I would do. That really set me up on a really good wave.”
Chianca’s rookie year came with more pressure than rookies of years past as the 2022 season included the introduction of the mid-season cut. Unfortunately, Chianca fell short of the cut line and had to return to the Challenger Series to fight to re-earn his spot on tour.
“The hardest moment definitely was the cut,” says Chianca. “It was just really messed up in a big way, my head couldn’t put together what to do next.”
After wrapping his head around the task ahead of him, Chianca got to work, focusing on what he would need to do to qualify for the tour once again. Hard work pays off and after the conclusion of the 2022 Challenger Series, Chianca had earned his spot back on tour. Currently, Chianca is ranked number two in the world. In the above video, he talks about his rookie season and his plans for the 2023 season.
