Gilmore all for wave pool option

AUSTRALIAN surfing great Stephanie Gilmore would prefer to see Olympic surfing contested in a wave pool rather than the ocean to help ensure the sport is always shown at its best.

The six-time world champion also believes it would be best to have Olympic medals decided in the same way each four years, with a wave pool the answer for prospective Games hosts that could be landlocked or without a suitable coastline.

While the IOC and Tokyo 2020 Games organisers have publicly declared surfing will be contested at Tsurigasaki Beach in Chiba, speculation is rife a wave pool is to be built in Tokyo in time for the 2020 Olympics.

Rumours have persisted since surfing gained Olympic program acceptance that it would be held in a wave pool.

Both the Australian and US teams have already run highperformance camps in wave pools in the US with the World Surf League introducing a wave pool contest to its world tour for both men and women this season.

“If we knew it would be in an ocean where the waves were consistent and there was a perfect reef break then for sure, I’d be down for it,” Gilmore said ahead of her first competitive surf at J-Bay, South Africa.

“But there are so many countries where the waves aren’t there, who might not even have an ocean … it would be good to be consistent from the very beginning.

“I think they need to start it in a wave pool and keep it going.”

Gilmore is hoping the benefits of recent training with Surfing Australia at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch in the US in June will aid her bid to win the first J-Bay Open for women in almost 20 years.

“It was pretty perfect preparation … the waves are pretty similar,” she said.