Filipe Toledo wins J-Bay Open. "He was more than a
level above."
Thats it: it’s run, won and done in a straight four-day
sizzle down the straightaway of J-Bay perfection. A lot of
good surfing, a lot of really ugly surfing and then the truly
sublime,a winning performance from Filipe Toledo that Shaun Tomson
described as being “as good as a human being can surf”.
He was more than a level above. His only competitor was fatigue
and maybe a fridge with jaws and fins like the one that put another
stoppage on the event as quarter final drew down to its
conclusion.
Were you amazed at how shallow a draught those apex predators
like to luxuriate in as they cruise the edge of the bottom
contour?
Carmichael took down Connor Coffin in a sleepy, wonky lineup in
a heat that threatened anti-climax after yesterday’s high water
mark.
Jordy and Julian did not much to dispel that notion. When Jordy
did bring the hi-fi game it looked rusty and forced, like footage
of a street fight where a donkey throws haymakers that don’t
connect. Julian likewise suffered from lack of impact. He was
stunned later in the presser that judges weren’t rewarding his
offerings with big scores.
Can anyone truly say the Jordy we see in 2018, the Julian Wilson
who wore the yellow jersey until today’s denouement, are the equals
or betters of the surfers they were when they first came on Tour? I
would argue they are worse. Their surfing has become safer, more
predictable, mired in conservatism. Filipe is making them look
increasingly irrelevant.
“I felt like I threw everything at a wave,” he said, “and all I
got was a six”.
There’s a perception problem here, outlined yesterday. A
question of declining not ascending skills. Can anyone truly say
the Jordy we see in 2018, the Julian Wilson who wore the yellow
jersey until today’s denouement, are the equals or betters of the
surfers they were when they first came on Tour? I would argue they
are worse. Their surfing has become safer, more predictable, mired
in conservatism. Filipe is making them look increasingly
irrelevant.
Why? The answer is not so obvious.
Gladwell’s 10000 hours to expertise and Erikssons science of
peak performance both indicate that increasing practice should lead
to increasing skills. In the words of Eriksson, “There is no point
at which performance maxes out and additional practice does not
lead to further improvement.” So, why the stagnation and even
reversal? Nick Carroll pointed out in a civilised internet beef
that it was highly unlikely that any human being had ever achieved
the 10000 hours of actual wave riding time so the theoretical upper
limit of performance was even greater than imagined.
Shaun Tomson took aim at Jordy’s boards as the source of the
problem but I disagree. His losing presser after going down to
Carmichael in the semi pointed to a deeper problem with this surprisingly candid
analysis.
“The way I surf a wave,” he said, “It obviously doesn’t feel
like it looks”. The lament of every recreational surfer on the
planet. Get a coach Jordy and get real.
The contrast in hi-fi surfing, risk, progression, speed,
repertoire you name it between the Julian/Jordy QF and the
Filipe/Medina QF was epochal. It was watching surfing from
different eras. Toledo landed an inverted air on the bricks as cool
as a cat thrown off a roof before signing an extensive claim.
Medina laid down huge turns, which Pottz failed to understand. The
man does not understand backhand surfing, he showed that with his
incomprehension of Italo’s surfing here last year.
You had to feel pity for Kanoa Igarashi in semi two against
Filipe. He murdered him on the opening exchanges then dialled in
another mi-nine for his second wave to put the result beyond doubt.
It was all over in those two insanely ridden waves. As good as a
human being can surf. Maybe not theoretically, but up to this point
in human evolution, yes. Very much so.
The final was actually a little more entertaining a contest than
it should have been on paper. The pre-show had a really nice little
doco on Filipe showing that behind the stunning “how” of his
surfing skills there was a solid why. A gal can figure out any how
if they have a good enough why…I know, I’ve butchered it but you
get the drift.
Filipe fell on his first wave. He looked tired. Please don’t
let him choke, please Jesus; I’ll be good from now on. I just want
my tiny mind blown one more time.
He dropped a solid score. Carmichael came back with a slightly
lesser one, but it was the best he surfed all event in my eyes. He
just added a little spice, maybe paprika, maybe chipotles to the
biltong he’d served up all event. It was big, it was good. I
scribbled down Adv Wade. Judges saw differently.
Filipe fell again. Long seconds passed before he got back on his
board and paddled. He’s gassed.
A long lull was his best friend. A period of recovery. He
picked up a mid-sized wave under priority and if it had been
midnight he would have lit up Jeffery’s Bay, such was the
incandescent intensity he surfed it at.
That was is it, all over. In the freezer, as Strider would say.
A perfect winning record in finals surfed. I think I can get used
to this mild-mannered llama as World Champion, even if the claims
are not always exactly to my taste.
You?
As for the rest of the field… the other so called contenders… a
good long walk with a good hard look in a room full of mirrors is
needed. They is way off the pace.
