"I honestly think that WSL is making an effort to end the Brazilian storm."
The man they call the Gandhi of surfing for his profoundly simple approach to life, Mr Griffin Colapinto, is under fire tonight by surf fans who believe sinister, likely racist, forces conspired to remove small-wave wizard Filipe Toledo from the Lexus Trestles Pro.
With seconds to go in the pair’s round of 16 heat, San Clemente born-and-raised Griffin, scored an 8.93 to beat Filipe Toledo in a wonderful nail-biter, 16.83 to 16.30.
Even to the jaundiced eye, Griff’s surfing and his dreamy Biolos’ were clearly superior to the Sharp Eye-riding Toledo.
Following the WSL’s Instagram post of Griffin’s heat-winning wave, however, Brazilian fans, and even a few crackers, were apoplectic.
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I honestly think that WSL is making an effort to end the Brazilian storm.
Who scored this? A drugged up 12yr old san clemente kid??
That wave was great, but he did not beat Toledo. This is getting ridiculous. (no I’m not Brazilian. I live near Griffin and like both surfers.)
I rarely disagree with the judging, but this is obviously over scored. Love Griff’s surf and style and hate to go along with the massive cry from my brazilian mates, but I really can’t see that score in this wave.
Reading through the comments, I thought it was the usual fan whining… so I went on to watch the heat recap, and I was amazed to see that Toledo scores were heavily hindered. Griffin surfed amazing, but Filipe was in another level. It must be very hard to any pro athlete to overcome such injustice! This really undermines WSL credibility. So frustrating it must be for Felipe and all professionals… too bad for all of us surf fans who love watching competitive surf
Let’s be honest, you’re a great athlete, but we all know that score was completely unfair. It wasn’t your fault, and the joy of advancing in the competition is real, but you shouldn’t have celebrated the way you did. That doesn’t help the sport evolve technically—at best, it encourages poor management
That wasn’t best wave of the heat. How is felipe’s full rotation an 8.3, 0.63 beneath? Also, Felipe’s 8.00; 2 searing carves with a crazy reverse so so late on a difficult section, no downtime between moves, perfect flow. I think the judges struggle to be subjective and have different expections for different surfers. If Griff had done that big full rotation, can guarantee it would’ve been scored way higher than 8.3. If Felipe had Griff’s end wave, it would’ve been a 7.5. No I’m not Brasilian, from NZ. Also I reckon Similar thing happened to Italo, he won his heat.. Epic surfing but wrong person advanced, No way an 8.93. Can I have a job judging plz
The piece de resistance, as they say in the Republic, came from Luke Cederman, star of BeachGrit’s time travel comedy, Once Upon a Time in New Zealand.
I think the saddest part about this, is it has really highlighted how many professional judges are unemployed at the moment and have to share their opinions from their social media accounts.
Colapinto, say you know, ain’t no stranger to the heat of Brazilian surf fans. Following his win over Filipe Toledo in El Salvador, chaos was promised on the sands of Saquarema if he dared show his face.
Read, Brazilian surf fans apoplectic following Californian Griffin Colapinto’s “shock” win over world title favourite Filipe Toledo, “World Shame League! This event was a joke!” and Latin surf fans vow to create chaos at next World Tour event in Brazil following Filipe Toledos controversial loss to Californian in El Salvador, “The biggest protest in history in Saquarema! Bring banners, balloons, planes, boo all the time! Make them leave due to emotional stress!”)
Happened again at the Surf Ranch, somewhere else and now, here, Lowers.
Griffin Colapinato’s response then, you’ll remember, was pure Gandhi.
“We are all human beings! We are all one. Each person seems to have something difficult that is happening in their life. Some times lashing out on others can stem from something deeper that we have no idea about. Raise your hand if you are guilty ️ I know I have been before. And that’s okay, we are humans that have been born into a world run by the overthinking mind and the feeling of separation. But deep down there is a love that understands we are all one. I understand that there are different cultures but in the end we all feel pain and we all feel love. There are so many different perspectives and points of view out there. Who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong. We grow up in different circumstances that shape our perspectives. Life really doesn’t make sense sometimes, but surely it’s more fun that way. Because now we have the unexpected. The element of surprise. There seems to be some growing pains in our surf community right now. But guess what? We are growing! Much love to everyone that is passionate about the sport of surfing. Without the passion, there would be no growth.”
