It’s built. They’re coming. Photo: WSL
Competitive surfing is coming to the Middle East. This weekend, February 14-16, WSL Championship Tour surfers will christen the new Kelly Slater pool in Abu Dhabi. (You can even be part of history and watch in person for just $16-$27.)
However, when the WSL made the luxury pool the second stop of the CT, it wasn’t without controversy, namely Tyler Wright’s family expressing worry for her well-being. Despite the wide spectrum of opinions on the pool, surf fans will certainly tune in for a curious peek at the new venue that will play a role in crowning 2025’s world champs.
In that vein, here are three storylines to keep your peepers on as you watch.
Wright staked her claim to the yellow jersey in Hawaii. Photo: Brent Bielmann//World Surf League
The elephant in the room: Tyler Wright
Back in October, Tyler Wright’s family drummed up an opposition movement on social media, criticizing the WSL’s decision to include the pool on the tour. As the only openly gay surfer on the CT, Wright’s family is upset that Tyler needs to visit a country where, according to the law, same-sex relationships can land you in prison. Theoretically speaking, the Sharia-based federal law could even impose the death penalty, but there’s no evidence that’s ever been applied.
Amid the trending conversations in the news and social media, the WSL decided to plead the fifth. They never made a public comment concerning Wright and/or her safety in the UAE. (It’s worth noting that Wright never commented either. The criticism stemmed from her brother Mikey and wife Lilli.) That topic is going to be increasingly harder to avoid as Wright took the win at Pipeline and will don the yellow jersey in Abu Dhabi reserved for the rankings leaders.
As WSL surfers post their arrivals to Instagram, there’s still no hard evidence that Wright will even compete (at least at the time of publication). But she’s listed in the heat draw to face Erin Brooks and Sawyer Lindblad in her round-one heat. So assuming she does travel to the UAE to maintain fair chances in the title race, it will be interesting to see what type of discourse there is around her participation. I can guarantee you the WSL announcers have been told to avoid the topic like the plague on the webcast.
And, remember, Wright wears the LGBTQ+ flag on her jersey and rainbow boardshorts. Will she still be allowed to display such symbolism? If they do permit her freedom of expression, that alone might transcend surf culture and be a much bigger story in mainstream media.
Board selection: Pyzel’s opinion
Tyler Wright’s board sponsor, Jon Pyzel, made an appearance on the Pipeline broadcast and had some interesting thoughts about preparing boards for the Abu Dhabi stop.
Obviously, due to the reasons stated, Wright hasn’t done any test surf sessions at the Abu Dhabi pool as most of her peers have. Thus, Pyzel stated that she didn’t have a clear read on what type of board would suit her best in the wave pool.
But a chance conversation that Pyzel had with Jordy Smith on the beach in Hawaii completely changed his mind about what Wright should ride.
“(Smith) told me he had just been (to Abu Dhabi) for two days, ridden a ton of waves, and had a lot of feedback about the wave,” Pyzel explained. “What Smith told me changed my thinking. I think the boards she (already) has will be really good. Smith was telling me that as soon as you go too far onto the shoulder you lose a lot of speed. You need to stay in the power bubble. In his opinion, you don’t want too much rocker. I was thinking more rocker because it’s a curvy little wave and (Smith) was thinking the opposite.”
“(Wright’s) boards, like the ‘Highline,’ which she likes, have a flatter tail rocker,” Pyzel added. “She was like, ‘I think I’m good (with my current models).’ So I made her a couple extra ones.”
Based on this conversation, I’ll be paying attention to how the competitors adapt – or in Wright’s case, don’t adapt – their quivers for the new pool.
He’s back in a pool. And he’s probably a favorite. Photo: WSL
Does Toledo reassert his title ambitions?
Filipe Toledo’s long-awaited return to competition after a sabbatical year mostly went under the radar. With a 9th place and a couple of Backdoor barrels, he appeased the naysayers who don’t believe in his skills in heavy barrels. At the same time, he didn’t perform well enough to catapult himself into early world title conversations.
But that could change in Abu Dhabi. Toledo comes in as one of the favorites to win stop number two. He’s taken a win and two second-place finishes at the Surf Ranch in Lemoore. As far as the men’s tour goes, only Gabriel Medina can claim a better track record in pools with two wins and a runner-up finish to his name.
If there is a place for Toledo to make a statement about his return to the tour, Abu Dhabi is the place to do it.
