The news came in hot and heavy this week yet again, with another CT event in the books, some WSL drama, and more. Welcome back to the Weekly Wrap, where The Inertia’s Juan Hernandez wraps up all the best stories on our site each week.
The week kicked off with the WSL wrapping up its visit to Portugal. Griffin Colapinto had just wowed in the Quarterfinals with the first perfect 10 of 2022, a lofty punt at Supertubos that sealed a win against Kolohe Andino. More importantly, it catapulted Colapinto into his first-ever CT win and a major shakeup on the Jeep Leaderboard standings…on both sides of the Tour.
Winner of the women’s event, Tatiana Weston-Webb, jumped 10 spots in the rankings and Colapinto launched 20 spots with his win. In fact, owner of a bright yellow jersey, Brisa Hennessey, is leaving Europe the only Top-10 surfer on either tour whose ranking didn’t budge in Europe. For the men, Kanoa Igarashi’s turn at the top marks the third time in as many contests the CT will see a new athlete in yellow.
Meanwhile, another tour has nothing but drama. The Joel Tudor vs the WSL fiasco resulted in a suspension of the defending world champion. Tudor feels that longboarding hasn’t gotten a fair shake from the League and isn’t hesitating to let the world know.
While The Inertia hasn’t been privy to conversations between the WSL and Tudor since the drama began, according to our sources, Tudor’s call to action led directly to a series of disturbing messages sent to World Surf League employees. The WSL cited a violation of the following rules: “Sportsmanlike conduct (14.02), damage to surfing’s image (14.04), and verbal assault (14.08).”
What does it all mean? Well, if you ask The Inertia Sr. Editor Alex Haro, competing or not now, Tudor’s suspension sparked a conversation and a controversy that could accomplish exactly what he wants: getting more eyes on longboarding. The kicker, Haro argues, is that the controversy is potentially going to do more for Tudor’s crusade than the tour could on its own.
In far less controversial news, Haro also spoke to Mason Barnes on the heels of his Nazaré bomb heard ’round the world.
“There’s definitely potential to get an 80-foot barrel out there, which would change the sport forever,” Barnes told us. “That’s kind of where my eyes are at. That’s the goal. That’s what I want to do. I just have to wait for the right wave and trust that it’s going to stay open.”
So, note to selves: keep an eye on Mason Barnes.
On the mountain, contributing writer Steve Andrews has been spending some time behind the scenes of the Freeride World Tour and he’s been blown away by the skill and talent of the event’s organizers.
“The competitors made some serious lemonade out of the rotten lemons Mother Nature tossed at the stage,” he wrote. “But for the event to even happen? The entire FWT team showed grit…”
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