But no fairytale ending for reigning gold medallist
Carissa Moore!
Hello, Hi, I am here with your preview of the women’s
Olympic surfing competition. The waiting period starts on
Saturday, July 27, which is coming right up.
Already, the surfers are in Tahiti doing important getting ready
for the Olympics stuff like modeling their fabulous team outfits,
hugging the Olympic mascot, and here and there, doing some actual
surfing.
In the coming week, each national team receives a block of time
to practice in the water. I’m not sure how the schedule was
determined, actually.
While there are obvious reasons to fear mishaps from the less
experienced surfers in the field, all of them have spent at least
some time in the past year at the Place of the Broken Skulls. I am
going to type that so many times in the coming weeks. Consider
yourself warned.
The Forecast
The waiting period runs ten days until August 5, and
it will take four days to run the full contest. There’s been some
talk of a two-day swell of gigantic scaries, but currently it looks
like wind will spoil that beautiful dream.
I’d expect that they would not run the early rounds
of women in bigger waves, but I’ve been wrong before. So many
times!
Clips from practice sessions I’ve seen have shown barrels in the
shoulder to head-high range. I have also seen some turns and a nice
turn to barrel combo from Carissa. I am totally here for all
forecast rumors and innuendo — as well as any speculation on when
this thing will actually take place.
I have heard some talk of an opening round as early as Saturday.
But you know how these things go.
Fun-sized Teahupo’o opens the way for some potential surprise
outcomes and may lead to disappointment for the specialists. It’s a
more open contest, I suppose, though it may provide less of the
kind of straight up surfer versus nature drama we love.
If you’re dreaming of scary ass, heaving Teahupo’o, I think
you’re going to be disappointed. Sorry! I didn’t do it! It’s not my
fault!
How the Olympic surfing format works
Have you ever watched a surf contest? Yes? Good, then you
understand how the Olympic surfing competition works. It’s a surf
contest. Phew.
There are 24 women in the draw, and the contest opens with
eight, three-woman heats. The seeding is based on results from the
2024 ISA World Championship event, which is how we ended up with
that bananas Tati-Molly-Caity heat. The winner of the opening heat
advances directly to round three. So easy.
The second- and third-place women head to round 2. A key detail:
Surfers are re-seeded based on their result in round 1, and their
pre-event seeding. I do not know the exact calculations involved
here, but presumably that means that the Tati-Molly-Caity situation
won’t persist beyond round 1.
The winner of round 3 advances to the quarterfinals. There’s no
more reseeding at this point and losers go home. Unlike a CT event,
there are two final heats. The first final determines the bronze
medalist, the second decides gold and silver.
We got this! We’re going to watch the Olympics and understand
the whole thing. It’s going to be so amazing.
How to Watch Olympic Surfing in the U.S.
If you would like to use a television to watch the Olympics, you
will need NBC. Peacock will stream an assortment of programming
including live events. A Hulu account will also get you live
coverage.
According to the Google, Australians are watching the Olympics
on the Nine Network, which also offers streaming. If this is wrong,
please feel free to tell me I’m stupid in the comments section. You
could also explain how actually to watch the Olympics in
Australia.
I’m just over here trying to help, ya know?
Women to Watch at the Surfing Olympics
Let’s dispense straight away with the idea that there is anyone
in the draw who hasn’t been to Teahupo’o. Thanks to an ISA spring
training camp, each surfer has been to the Skulls at least once. A
casual perusal of the Instagram says that many of the women in the
draw have been to Teahupo’o multiple times and have also surfed the
North Shore.
It’s a whole new world! Lots of girls can barrel now! This makes
me happy.
Let’s look at some heats.
Heat 1
Caroline Marks opens the whole shebang in heat one against
Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins and South Africa’s Sarah Baum. On paper,
the 2023 world champ is the favorite to advance here. She’s a
goofyfoot who won the Tahiti Pro last year.
But, there’s some fine print. The final heat in 2023 that Caro
won took place in marginal, windy Teahupo’o. This year, she’s shown
limited interest — or really, no interest at all — in hucking it
over the ledge on bigger days at either Pipe or Teahupo’o. With the
forecast the way it is, Caroline should be fine, but I think she’s
more vulnerable that her results might suggest. If this were
Trestles, I’d have no problem calling her the favorite. At the
Skulls? Not necessarily.
A regular foot from Portugal, Yolanda, 26, is the kind of surfer
who could upend expectations at this Olympics. She likes the barrel
and has a couple of good clips in legit Tahiti. Instagram clips
don’t win heats, of course. And there’s a lot to be said for the
experience the women on the CT bring to the actual business of
competing. Can Yolanda out-surf someone like Caity or Molly? Maybe
not. But she clearly charges and I’m interested to see what she can
do.
Another goofyfoot, 30, Sarah has a clip of a beautiful Indo left
that made me dizzy. She came close to qualifying for the CT at age
17. After a string of near-misses, she quit competing until 2019.
Sarah’s been rattling around the Challenger Series in recent
seasons, but hasn’t made it to the big show.
Heat 2
Local girl and Olympic favorite Vahine Fierro headlines heat 2.
In smaller waves, her locals advantage may prove less pronounced,
but Vahine has beautiful style and knows Teahupo’o better than
anyone in the draw. She won the recent Shiseido Pro in firing waves
against a hard-charging, ten-point scoring — but not the first! —
Tati West. At times her heat strategy has let Vahine down in the
past, but she seems to be coming into her own now. She’ll be hard
to beat.
A regular foot from Peru, Sol Aguirre, 21, is no stranger to
left barrels. The pinned post on her Instagram is a frickin’ cavern
of a wave at Teahupo’o. She goes from deep, grabs the rail, and
rides it out. What I’m saying is, this girl is good. Her heat
surfing is less advanced than her barrel riding, honestly. Her most
notable result is probs her quarterfinal finish at the WSL Junior
World Championship in 2023, where Sawyer Lindblad beat her. I doubt
she beats Vahine, but she’s not an easy draw.
At 19, Janire Gonzalez Etxabarri is less experienced at this
whole contest game than some of her competitors. She’s a goofyfoot
whose most recent result is a ninth at the Challenger Series event
at Ballito. How does she barrel? Honestly, I’m not sure. European
fans, help us out here!
Heat 3
Of the non-CT surfers, Canada’s Sanoa Dempfle-Olin, 19, tops my
list to play the spoiler. A goofyfoot, Sanoa is legit from Canada —
iykyk — and surfs around the nooks and crannies of B.C. That area
ain’t exactly for the faint of heart. Orcas. They have orcas there.
Also, some solid fucking barrels. Canada girl charges. Earlier this
spring, Sanoa surfed Teahupo’o with a Red Bull training camp. Clips
look good. Can she barrel? Signs point to yes.
Tyler Wright is the on-paper favorite in this heat, and she’s
steadily improved her backhand barrel riding over the past few
seasons. She brings the experience that winning world titles and
competing at the top level builds and that’s certainly an
advantage. She sat out Brazil, so she’s had time to prepare.
There’s good Tyler and evil Tyler — and if good Tyler shows up, she
could medal. Otherwise, no barrel.
Israeli surfer Anat Lelior, 24, competed in the 2020 Tokyo
Games, so she’s no stranger to Olympic-level competition. She
finished 17th at Chiba, and has competed on the QS for the past few
years. A goofyfoot, Anat got her first legit barrel at Teahupo’o
this past spring. She’s since made a couple of trips to get
acquainted with the joint. A true wildcard in my book,
honestly.
Heat 4
Ah, yes, the crazy round. Truly, this has to be the wildest
seeding we’ve seen lately in a surfing contest. Caity Simmers, Tati
West, and Molly Picklum: They’re all here! Anyone of these three
women could win the whole damn thing. If I have to pick, I’m taking
Caity. But really, all three have done awesome things lately in
left barrels. Tati? She scored a ten at the recent Tahiti Pro.
Molly? She scored a ten at Pipe. Caity? She’s world number one and
won Pipe this past January. For the fucking girls. Flip a coin, all
three of these women can win.
Heat 5
Brisa Hennessy and Johanne Defay meet in this one. Brisa has
significantly improved her left barrels in recent seasons and it
was a surprise to see her make the final at this year’s CT event in
Tahiti. Brisa’s also currently ranked third in the world, which I
did not see coming. All of which is to say that she’s on a solid
run and there’s no reason to think it will end with the
Olympics.
Johanne lost some time early in 2022 to injury and it took her
some time to get back up to speed. This year she’s won Portugal and
finished second to Caity at Bells. She made quarters at Pipe, but
went out early in Tahiti to Tyler. Johanne is a strong competitor,
so I’m reluctant to write her off. But she has yet to shine at
Tahiti, and I think she’ll struggle to make it past quarters.
The first time Candelaria Resano, 19, went to Teahupo’o, she
broke her nose. You might be thinking, well, what is she doing in
the Olympics? It turns out Candelaria — or “Cande” — is the
daughter of a respected big-wave surfer in Nicaragua. She has
surfed Mavs, Waimea, and done step-offs at some gnarly-looking
offshore reef in Nicaragua. She finished 3rd in the ISA world
junior championship in December 2023, and received the universality
slot for the Games. She has a tough draw against two CT girls, but
she has some legit heavy water creds.
Heat 6
Tainà Hinckel, Camilla Kemp, and Luana Silva. This heat is the
evil twin to the Caity-Molly-Tati heat. Even understanding the
seeding, I’m here to say, the seeding is wack. Anywho. Tainà is 21
and from Brazil, Camilia is the first ever German woman to qualify
for Olympic surfing, and Luana is on the CT. There’s not a ton of
experience in this heat, though they’ve all gotten at least one
wave each at Tahiti. Surprises are always possible, of course!
That’s why we do the sports.
Heat 7
Safi Vette. Nadia Erostarbe. Siqi Yang. I will go
ahead and confess that I do not know any of these surfers. And I
call myself an expert! Actually, I do not. Fortunately, the
internet can help me and all of us get smarter.
A regular foot from New Zealand, Safi, 22, is currently
competing on the Challenger Series for the first time. She’s well
down in the rankings at the moment, but hello, she does have clips
from Teahupo’o. Can she barrel? Yes! She can barrel. In fact, she
has a nice style on her backhand. She also wacked the hell out of
it on a smaller day. Wildcard.
From the Basque Country, Nadia Erostarbe, 24, has some solid
results on the QS and is surfing the Challenger Series for the
first time this year. So far, she’s made two quarters and a semi.
In June, she towed Teahupo’o and rode out of a deep one. She’s a
goofyfoot and a vegan. That’s all I got.
The youngest woman in the draw, Siqi is 15 and comes from rural
China. She tried wrestling and sailing before becoming a surfer.
She’s a regular foot with decent turns. and she’s trained to hold
her breath for three minutes. Clips are sparse, and I do not know
if she barrels.
Heat 8
Gold medalist Carissa Moore is the big name in the final heat of
round 1. There are no fairy tale endings in sports, and to her
credit, I don’t think Carissa is looking for one here. Tahiti is
not her favorite wave and while she’s put significant time into
improving her backside barrel surfing, she still struggles with her
nerves.
Riss doesn’t love size, though she has certainly gone on some
good ones at Pipe. Head-high Teahupo’o? I think she’ll be fine and
could potentially contend for a medal. If she doesn’t, though, I
don’t think she’ll be crying. Riss knows what she’s accomplished in
her career and should be proud of it.
From Portugal, Teresa Bonvalot, 24, competed in Tokyo and is a
perennial on the challenger series. She’s competed as a wildcard on
occasion on the CT, too. A goofyfoot, she’s done two training camps
in Tahiti to prepare for the Olympics and she can barrel. In fact,
her free surfing clips suggest she’s a bit of a charger. Even with
a frontside advantage, I think she’ll struggle to beat Riss in this
one.
Japan’s Shino Matsuda, 21, qualified, then unqualified for the
Tokyo Olympics. That must have been rough, and suggests the need
for a more singular path to the Olympics than the spaghetti bowl we
have now. A goofyfoot, she looks poised and smooth in the barrel,
and is a potential spoiler to the CT girls party.
We made it! Alright girls, show me your barrels!
