World tour hits Tahiti
Smaller waves early on could spell trouble for top seeds
Paul Botha
THE eyes of the surfing world will be firmly fixed on the Pacific Ocean island of Tahiti for the next 12 days (or nights for South Africans) while the Billabong Pro Tahiti is run in the fabled waves of Teahupo’o, or Chopes as it’s commonly referred to.
The seventh of 11 stops on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour will be crucial in deciding this year’s world surfing champion, with rankings leader Matt Wilkinson, John John Florence and Gabriel Medina all within touching distance of each other on the leader board.
Unfortunately the forecast is not favourable for the opening four days of the contest period and the organisers are only expecting hip-to-headhigh waves at the weekend before the first overhead surf arrives at the treacherously shallow coral reef break on Tuesday.
Best known for the exceptionally thick and hollow tube rides it produces when the waves are in the 3m to 4m range, which makes Chopes as much a test of courage as it is of skill, the smaller waves could see the perennial contenders upset by the dynamic skills of those more comfortable in smaller waves.
America’s Kelly Slater, Reunion Island’s Jeremy Flores, Hawaii’s Florence and Brazil’s Medina have dominated the event in recent years, but the likes of Brazilians Filipe Toledo and Bruno Santos, a wild card and the 2008 winner, could turn the tables this year, as could Australia’s Wilkinson or South Africa’s Jordy Smith.
All the action from Tahiti can be followed live online at worldsurfleague.com starting at 8pm SA time every day. ThE South African team ended their campaign at the World Surfing Games ranked 11th out of the 26 participating nations in Costa Rica last Sunday. Peru clinched the team gold medal, and Portugal, the US and France won silver, bronze and copper.
South Africa’s hopes of a higher finish were dashed when team captain Faye Zoetmulder was eliminated in her repechage round-six heat last week, placing equal 11th overall in the women’s event, which was the highest finish among her teammates.
Although South Africa’s ranking represents the first time that the country has finished outside the top 10 since 2002, the selectors and board of directors of Surfing South Africa had made a conscious decision to send a young team to Costa Rica in anticipation of surfing’s inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The likes of Jordy Maree, who turned 18 during the event, Shane Sykes and Matt McGillivray, both 19, and Dylan Lightfoot, 21, will have benefited from the experience of having represented their country and will be older and more savvy competitors by 2020.