Ramzi, on his way to a lengend-making heat win. Photo: WSL
If Ramzi Boukhiam wasn’t on your radar ahead of the Paris Olympics, he better be now. While many pro surfers struggle to navigate the world’s most infamous lefthand tube, Ramzi showed that, to the contrary, he thrives in the consequential conditions. His third-place finish at last month’s Tahiti Pro was the best of his career as he wowed with an impossibly deep, “probably-should-have-been-a-10” tube worth 9.80 points. I can assure you that his Olympic competitors were paying close attention.
A few weeks later Ramzi finds himself on the shores of Sao Paulo, Brazil, hanging out with his close buddy Gabriel Medina as they prepare for the Saquarema Championship Tour stop. But that historic moment, Ramzi’s coming out party at Teahupo’o, should not be quickly forgotten. It may be a precursor for what is to come. I gave Ramzi a ring to go over that performance, get his thoughts on the wave and the score, and hear where his headspace is at as he aims to bring an Olympic medal back to Morocco.
Before the Tahiti Pro, especially with the looming swell on the forecast, did you feel like you could get a really good result?
Kind of. It was my first time competing there, but I’ve surfed Chopes a few times before. I don’t have crazy experience there, but it’s a place I really like. Tikanui Smith stayed with me for the event and he’s like my brother from Tahiti, really, really close. So it was just me and him, we rented this little bungalow at the “End of the Road.” We were in a really good Tahitian vibe, surfing and fishing. I just put myself into a nice state of mind. And when I saw that swell I was happy. That’s what you want – big Chopes with the best in the world. That’s pretty much the dream.
Let’s go back to that quarter final with Kelly and that nearly perfect wave. How was that experience?
It felt pretty good. It was maybe the best moment of my career. I needed a big score because I kept making the wrong choices from the start of the heat, going on the wrong waves. And Kelly kept getting the best waves behind me, doing Kelly things. But then I was like, okay, I need a 9. So I wanted a big one. Then this wave came. It wasn’t a big one, but I was really, really deep. When I took off, I looked at it and I was thinking I was too deep. But then I pumped, made it through, and was stoked. I thought it had to be a 10. That was crazy.
Were you surprised that it wasn’t a 10?
I mean, kind of. But in the moment, I was like, okay, whatever, I won. That was the most important part. But I felt like it was a 10 because I was really deep.
When you were on the foam ball, did you ever think, I’m not going to make it?
Yeah for sure. I almost fell three times, but I held on and I guess it just sent me out. I knew I just made a hard barrel, so I was pretty stoked.
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Were you happy with the third place result? Or were you disappointed that you didn’t make it to the final?
My semi against Italo was really slow. I just needed a six on those last two waves, but I was a little too deep. It was reachable. I really thought I was gonna go to the final, and who knows, maybe win. But it is what it is. Given it was my first time (competing) at Chopes, it’s a good result.
So now that you got that result at Teahupo’o, how does that affect your confidence level heading into the Olympics?
I feel confident. I like these waves. And, of course, it boosted my confidence getting third on the CT because it was pretty much against the surfers that are going to be at the Olympics. I really wanted to make this Olympics because, while Japan was nice, this is more the type of wave I like – the waves that scare me. I like the challenge. I just hope it’s big and nice so we can really send it.
What’s your training program? Are you going to go back to Tahiti before the Olympics?
I’ll do the Brazil CT, then I go home for maybe 10 days where I’ll do some training and physio. Then I’ll go to Tahiti maybe seven days before the Olympics.
What has been the biggest lesson learned thus far throughout your first year on the CT?
The thing that I struggled the most with is the lay days. Sometimes you get into a rhythm, you make a few heats, and then it goes into five lay days. It’s hard to keep the momentum. That was the hardest part to adapt to. So I’m going to learn from that for next year. I need to be able to stay in the moment. For example, in Portugal I had a pretty nice day. I made two heats. I was in the quarters. I wanted them to run the next day, but then it went into five lay days. When they reran the comp, I was off. I didn’t have my momentum.
