Mr. Robinson definitely had the barrel of the day. Photo: ISA
Filipe Toledo pulled into a deep tube, successfully rode over a tricky foam ball, and exited with a display of emotion I hadn’t seen in him here in Tahiti. It was the last heat of the day, but the excitement around the Olympic venue was at its peak.
The Brazilian pumped his fists and, even after kicking out, continued celebrating the near-perfect 9.67 that earned him a spot in round three. His 17-point heat total was the highest for day two of the 2024 Olympics and sent New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand packing.
I, admittedly, was among those who questioned Toledo’s drive after his unremarkable round-one performance and post-heat interview responses. Time will soon tell if he can match the tube-riding talent of his peers to take him deeper into the event, but I’m no longer doubting his Olympic passion. It was all there for the world to see today.
Toledo’s excellent score came right after a near-perfect 9.87 earned by Australia’s Jack Robinson in the previous heat. The late afternoon provided the cleanest conditions of the day and the Aussie gold-medal hopeful didn’t squander perhaps the most perfectly shaped tube of the event; two judges thought it was a perfect 10.
“That was about as perfect as a wave gets,” Robinson rhetorically responded when I asked him if he thought the wave should have been a 10. “I think my 10 is coming one day. I haven’t had a 10 on tour yet.”
The flurry of high scores late in the day was a welcome relief. It hit me like a jolt of caffeine after a dull morning of surfing. Women’s round two kicked things off, feeling like a nagging hangover after the exhilarating high of opening day action. A drop in swell, long lulls, passing rain squalls, and blustery off/cross-shore wind gusts created conditions that were…challenging to say the least. Barrels were scarce and technical. The occasional bomb would still roll through, but few capitalized.
I hopped in the media boat to see if getting a little closer to the action would give me an adrenaline boost. It did not. I sat in the channel for two heats and saw a grand total of zero barrels made. I watched Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins win a heat with 4.67 over New Zealand’s Saffi Vette’s 1.27. Only three women – South Africa’s Sarah Baum, Israel’s Anat Lelior, and France’s Johanne Defay – got double-digit heat totals. I could count the round’s completed barrels with my fingers (maybe even on one hand). Turns were winning heats – not exactly what we came for.
Filipe Toledo let his passion fly a bit more on day two. Photo: ISA
But just as I was chalking up the lackluster performances to the conditions, Kanoa Igarashi completely altered the energy in the air in the first heat of men’s round two. Igarashi threaded tight barrels, masterfully maximizing his time in the tube. He even felt confident enough to throw a high-speed, just-for-fun 360 chop-hop after a barrel.
Contrary to the women’s round, 11 men scored double-digit heat totals with Robinson, Toledo, and Mexico’s Alan Cleland advancing with excellent-range waves.
When chatting with Igarashi in the media zone, he said he felt uncharacteristically nervous while preparing for his elimination heat this morning. He also acknowledged that, despite the minimal tube time seen during the women’s round, he still felt there were opportunities to find barrels.
“The barrels that I got were so hard to ride,” said Igarashi. “I had to use the best of my technique to maximize the scoring potential.” Igarashi told me that he was indecisive about using his “turn board” or “barrel board” before the heat, but he was happy he chose the equipment designed more for barrel riding.
Igarashi had the unpleasant task of eliminating his lifelong friend, Italy’s Leo Fioravanti – one of 16 competitors eliminated on day two. Australia’s Molly Picklum joined Fioravanti as the most high-profile surfers sent home after France’s Defay took her out.
With two rounds completed, the forecast from here out looks like a sudoku puzzle. A big swell fills in over the next few days, but pesky onshore winds will accompany it. When the winds improve, the swell is supposed to die down. The next swell on the forecast might arrive a tad too late.
“(The forecast) is so tricky – I feel bad for whoever has to make that decision,” Igarashi said when I asked him how he would proceed with the scheduling. “If I had to predict it I would say we will have a few days off, but Teahupo’o has so many different faces, we have to be ready every single day.”
Will the organizers prefer to run heats in big surf, but sub-par conditions, over the next few days? Or will they put all their eggs in one basket and wait for the final day(s) of the window? This will be something to keep an eye on. There might be an offshore window tomorrow (Monday) morning, so don’t be surprised if we’re right back at it.
One surfer who understood the morning heat-winning formula well was (surprisingly) the 14-year-old Chinese surfer Siqi Yang. Yang, a product of China’s $3 million surfing investment in the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle, made history as the first Chinese surfer to win an Olympic heat. She hardly bothered looking for barrels and used her rail work to garner two waves in the four-point range, eliminating Peru’s Sol Aguirre.
Molly Picklum and Leo Fioravanti were two of the biggest names sent packing yesterday. Photo: ISA
“We had half an hour (watching the waves) before we got in the water and it seemed like there weren’t many barrels today,” said Yang. “The coaches asked me to make adjustments.” When I asked Yang if she had expected to win a heat, she smiled and said via a translator, “Yes I did. I have to have a little bit of confidence in myself.”
Now that rounds one and two are completed, from round three on the competition enters a single elimination bracket. Notably, John John Florence and Gabriel Medina find themselves on the same side of the bracket. They would face off in the semifinals if they make it that far. Ethan Ewing and Joao Chianca are also seeded on that side of the bracket.
The women’s bracket is similarly lopsided. Carissa Moore, Vahine Fierro, Tyler Wright, Caroline Marks, and Defay are all seeded together – only one could make the final. On the other side, the winner of the round three matchup (that very well could be a final) between Caity Simmers and Tatiana Weston-Webb will have a relatively easier trip to the final.
A few unfortunate women’s round-three matchups will hurt Brazil’s and France’s chances of a podium Finish. The French surfers Johanne Defay and Vahine Fierro will match up, while Brazil’s Luana Silva and Taina Hinckel will face off. No such country-on-country heat exists in men’s round three.
