Glee in Tokyo.
Glee in Tokyo.

Official 2024 Olympic surfing heat draw announced teeing off wild celebration in Japan

"We got Pip! We got Pip!"

We surf fans are currently in the throes of thrill what with Teahupo’o putting on a spectacular show, yesterday, with more on tap for today. It is nearly impossible to look away from “head place,” as Kaipo Guerrero translated yesterday whilst perched in the brand new aluminum tower dug right into the reef, and, majestically, a whole ‘nother Teahupo’o event is just around the corner.

As you well know, Paris was gifted the 2024 Olympic Games years ago and chose to conduct the surfing component in its Polynesian territories.And, yesterday, the official heat draw was announced.

On the women’s side…

Heat 1: Yolanda Hopkins (POR), Caroline Marks (USA), Sarah Baum (RSA)
Heat 2: Sol Aguirre (PER), Janire Etxabarri (ESP), Vahine Fierro (FRA)
Heat 3: Anat Lelior (ISR), Sanoa Dempfle-Olin (CAN), Tyler Wright (AUS)
Heat 4: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA), Molly Picklum (AUS), Caitlin Simmers (USA)
Heat 5: Johanne Defay (FRA), Brisa Hennessy (CRC), Candelaria Resano (NCA)
Heat 6: Tainá Hinckel (BRA), Camila Kemp (GER), Luana Silva (BRA)
Heat 7: Nadia Erostarbe (ESP), Siqi Yang (CHN), Saffi Vette (NZL)
Heat 8: Carissa Moore (USA), Teresa Bonvalot (POR), Matsuda Shino (JPN)

And for the men…

Heat 1: Ethan Ewing (AUS), Tim Elter (GER), Jordy Smith (RSA)
Heat 2: Joan Duru (FRA), Jack Robinson (AUS), Matthew McGillivray (RSA)
Heat 3: Alonso Correa (PER), Filipe Toledo (BRA), Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
Heat 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Connor O’Leary (JPN), Bryan Perez (ESA)
Heat 5: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Billy Stairmand (NZL), João Chianca (BRA)
Heat 6: Andy Criere (ESP), John John Florence (USA), Alan Cleland (MAR)
Heat 7: Kauli Vaast (FRA), Lucca Mesinas (PER), Griffin Colapinto (USA)
Heat 8: Rio Waida (INA), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Inaba Reo (JPN)

It must be assumed that the streets of Tokyo were packed with revelers last night, celebrating last Olympic’s silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi heat three score of Filipe Toledo. The timid world champion has a long history of failing to paddle at Head Place all but guaranteeing Japan advancing to the bracket stage.

Other notable draws include heat 4, for the women, which rudely pits Tati Weston-Webb against Molly Picklum and Cait Simmers.

Which are you most looking forward to?

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Female surfers create history in jaw-dropping barrels at Tahiti Pro

“This is women’s surfing! We’re doing it!”

It seems like for every passing day a new milestone in women’s surfing is created. Australian Molly Picklum’s ten-pointer at Pipe and give-em-hell closeout hit at Sunset; teen sensation Erin Brooks’ ten-point ride at Snapper Rocks; Caity Simmers whenever she paddles out.

And, today, in six-to-eight-foot waves at Teahupoo, site of the Paris Games in a couple of months, there was the steady thud of explosions as spectators in the channel flotilla banged and screamed while Tahitian local Vahine Fierro, Hawaiian-Brazilian Tatiana Weston-Webb and Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy consistently buried their muzzles in barrels that were long considered to be beyond the skill of women.

Tatiana created history when she became the first woman to score a perfect ten at the Tahiti Pro, although that number wasn’t enough to get past local surfer and eventual winer Vahine Fierro, whose post-contest quotes were almost as delightful as her bold approach to the barrel.

“Thank you to Jessi (Myley Dyer) for trusting the women because we were more than capable out there,” she said. “It’s just insane. Thank you Teahupo’o, you’re so special, and thank you for sending me the best waves of my life… Teahupo’o is for the women after all.”

As for Tatiana’s barrel,

“I knew I needed to go and get a good score to try and make the heat and when I was paddling and looking down, I was [thinking] ‘just make the drop and then you can barrel’. I caught a little edge and then from there I was just like ‘stay calm’ and all of a sudden it was just a little tunnel. When I came out I couldn’t believe it. I was just beyond myself screaming… This is women’s surfing. We’re doing it. I feel like I won the contest but obviously I didn’t.”

Click here to watch the day’s highlights. 

And, tomoz, more juice in the waves and the men get down to the biz end of the Tahiti Pro.

Gonna be good.

(And, swing back tomoz for Jen See’s take on today’s theatrics.)

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Open Thread: Comment Live on Day Two of the Tahiti Pro

Paddle over the proverbial ledge with friends!

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"I could really see you in a high-waisted bottom."

Woman slams Australian surf shops as “creepy” in blistering takedown

"Lewd, crude and totally rude."

It is almost summer season in the northern hemisphere with all the joys therein. Long sun-dappled days, warm dreamy nights, gossip pages filled with stories of celebrities enjoying Montauk’s famed Surf Lodge and even some of them stand up paddling out into the brine on inflatable craft. “Surfing” as it were.

Ahhhhhhh.

Down under things are different, of course, with the calendar flipping to winter but that has not stopped an unnamed younger Australian woman from slamming the country’s surf shops as “creepy” in a blistering attack.

Taking to Reddit, the very flustered Victorian declared,

“I was in Queensland recently and it drives me nuts how surf shops only stock high waisted bottoms. I’ve looked thoughout Melbourne and a few regional places. I spent time in Maroochydore and Brisbane. I used to only buy surf bathers as they were cheap, decent quality, and looked cute. I understand there’s a demand for high crotch now but why is it so hard to find normal bottoms in store?”

An offensive picture was included for reference.

Shock and outrage immediately followed with some wondering “Why can’t surf shops sell swimwear that appeals to a wider range of personal tastes?” and others trying to wrap minds about the perversion, declaring, “Agree! I want something a little more modest for myself but I type ‘modest’ and get the other end of the spectrum. Why can’t there be a middle ground?”

One Reddit user, trying to be helpful, offered, “I love Unepiece, Alulu, and Infamous Swim – all online,” though more rage followed as she excluded Kelly Slater girlfriend Kalani Miller line Mikoh (shop here).

Over to you, though.

Do you find the high waisted-bikini trend to be lewd, crude and totally rude or are you on board?

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Bob Hurley discusses direction of the brand that still carries his name.
Bob Hurley discusses the direction of the brand that still carries his name.

Subscription blog Stab shortlisted for Pulitzer after glowing profile of onetime surf brand Hurley

"Essentially worthless."

Stab Magazine has added another page, as it were, to its gilded literary history. The subscription surf blog famous for declaring modern surf media “essentially worthless,” is certainly being shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize after publishing a glowing profile on onetime surf brand Hurley.

Hurley Can Now Legally Rent a Car begins thusly:

Surfing’s noughties industrial powerhouses had to adapt to survive.

Perhaps none so more than Hurley.

The brand who crashed onto the already-hot scene in 1999; reached the upper-echelons in lightning time; brokered bar-none the biggest takeover deal in surfing history when they sold to Nike in 2002; spearheaded the surfing tech revolution; signed the biggest athlete deal in surfing history (John Florence in 2016); then weathered the blur of crashes, mini-crashes, famines/floods and a plague on all of our houses, to emerge in 2024.

Still here. Still Hurley.

The author, unnamed though will hopefully reveal himself at the Pulitzer Prize Award Ceremony, goes on to describe in lush detail how the brand came into being and how its new owner, Bluestar Alliance, is actually cool and core and that beard oil, pool toys, fingernail clippers and deeply discounted men’s tech pant Costco drops are the future. Or, in his words, “Hey, that work/life balance birthed the surf industry the first time around. Who’s to say it won’t work again?”

Stab fans, and lovers of the written word, are relishing passages like… “Then along came this plucky, all-American surf brand from ‘Surf Mecca’ called Hurley — hand, meet glove.” And… “So you’ve got a stellar team — including two recent World Champs — a mix of new and old talent on staff, and a whole treasure trove of technical gear to reference and re-purpose, in a time when the world’s mad for technical gear.”

Reading them back and forth in reverential tones.

Essentially worthless indeed.

Huzzah.

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