Tahiti Pro 2023: Finals Day
Tahiti Pro 2023: Finals Day
Absolutely riveting Finals Day with a changeable, sometimes chaotic Teahupoo lineup offering enough hollow moments for tube-maestros to ply their trade.
None more outrageously or prodigiously than runner-up Gabe Medina, who lost a tight final - 15.00 - 15.66 - to Jack Robinson, who was the sole surfer on Finals Day not made to look foolish by Gabe’s Teahupoo mastery.
Congrats to Jack. He now gets a start for Finals Day, with the chance to redeem both an injury disrupted year and a poor showing at Trestles last September. His staring down of a rampaging Medina, who had him in deep combination in the opening ten minutes of the Finals, before icing two highly technical tube rides after long waits was fully worthy of the win. An insane Final that always looked like Medina’s to lose.
The tragedy of Medina’s loss is we are robbed of both his appearance on Finals Day (unless they rejig the “rules” to allow him to replace the injured Ewing) and a start for him in the Olympics next year in Tahiti. It’s a bitter irony that the modern day master of Teahupoo will sit on the sidelines while we watch higher ranked surfers tube dodge waves that Medina would have surfed into the next dimension.
Jack (WSL/Dunbar)
A small rewind. We did a huge disservice by overlooking Leo Fioravanti in the opening two wraps. I missed it, but so did you below the line and that was a bad miss by all of us. Leo topped the scoring on Day One, made mince-meat of Jordy Smith in the Round of 16, then put away wildcard Kauli Vaast in the Quarters.
For the majority of the contest, the first big scoring ride won the heat, and only eventual winner Jack Robinson was able to break that golden rule. Leo consistently made ‘em from deep and made ‘em from behind the foam ball. He was the total dark horse to make the five, which I hadn’t even mentioned.
Leo (WSL/Dunbar)
The job of a competitive surfer is to compete and win, and that is something I’ve always enjoyed about Medina’s approach. We need bad guys, villains, people we watch in the hope they lose, and the sport is worse off now that Gabe has transformed into a nice guy. No-one is willing to step up to that role, especially not Jack Robinson.
Jack had to defeat his friend and travelling buddy Yago Dora en route to the Final, knocking him out of the Final Five picture. Heavy stuff. He downplayed it in the presser, emphasising their friendship and framing the heat by downplaying the competitiveness, seeing it instead as an opportunity to “surf with him and have fun”. That was fakery and we all knew it. For Jack to progress, Dora had to lose. And he lost a lot. Title shots are rare, that may be Dora’s single opportunity. Jack took that from him. That may be a bitter pill for Dora to swallow once the adrenalin wears off and the sleepless nights begin.
Yago (WSL/Ryder)
We don’t have a tube maestro in the Women’s Draw - yet. But there is generational divide. On the wrong side stands Steph Gilmore who offered up a paltry 2.93 heat total to go out with a whimper against Caz Marks.
Fittingly, Tyler Wright is on the right side. She pig-dogged and pulled in repeatedly on waves that offered few exits.
The younger surfers all pull in without fear. Pickles went head down and charged into everything that moved and was one completion shy of besting eventual runner up Caitlin Simmers. Caity went to turns to win that heat and immediately expressed regret and an intention to pull in for the rest of the event. Which she did.
Tyler (WSL/Dunbar)
Against Vahine Fierro, Simmers got a late chip shot in on a crumbling corner which went square on the reef. She backdoored the section without hesitation, came out post-spit for a 9.23 and the best women’s tube-ride of the event. What felt like glacial progress in women’s tube-riding, especially backside, accelerated ahead via that ride. Any women watching on the Challenger or Qualifying Series will have to now accept that benchmark as future status quo or risk irrelevancy.
The Women's Final was ruined by a squall which came from windward and sent chunks of windswell running through the lineup. Caz Marks made one small tube. Simmers got obliterated freefalling out of the lip on a bomb and that was it. Marks ahead by the length of that single ride.
Caz (WSL/Dunbar)
We waited all morning for the JJF/Medina super heat, yet it was over in the first five minutes. As indicated, the first ride was crucial and it belonged to Medina. He harassed Florence for the deep take-off and Florence was happy to meekly surrender position. Medina capitalised with a deeply-threaded runner for an 8.33. Minutes later he completed again for a 6.17 and Florence was in a combination chokehold. He countered with a weak succession of non-makes; a total capitulation.
My favourite moment of the day occurred soon after. Medina paddled out and around Florence, then straight towards him. Smiling and chatting. I imagined consoling words, as befits the tenor of the times. Seconds later he stroked into a freefall bowl, royal purple board deep behind the foam ball, then exited with head bowed into bright sunshine. Outrageous arrogance. Every Medina/Florence encounter at Teahupoo had been tight, could have gone either way. This one was a demolition, an incredibly one-side display of superiority. If it sends Florence into retirement it would not surprise.
Gabs (WSL/Ryder)
I don’t really give much truck to the surfer as athlete concept. Especially competition surfers who can manage their energy output and have jet skis doing any of the hard endurance work which used to be par for the course (and still is for rec surfers). Two or three half-hour heats in a day is not a tough ask for full-time competitors who have nothing else to do except optimise diet and train for the task.
With Medina though, we have to acknowledge the prodigality of his output and its impact. Eight waves against Florence seemed to barely break the crust and 'surf him in'. His twelve rides against Barron Mamiya in the Semis featured many crushing wipeouts as Medina rolled the dice on 50/50 calls that could have been excellent rides. Each pounding takes a toll. He continued the frantic pace against Robinson with another twelve rides.
A feature of Medina’s era-defining 2014 win against Slater in maxing Teahupoo was the precision and lack of wipeouts. It was the Final before he had his first wipeout. He was fresh, Slater noticeably fatigued. In the end, that was the difference.
Mid-way through the Final against Robinson, minor but noticeable signs of fatigue crept in. The wave selection veered ever so slightly away from 50/50 to 60/40. He rode waves that had no chance of bettering a score. He fell on a regulation cutback. In the end, he was absent when Jack’s heat-winning wave presented itself. Sitting way up the reef. Jack had priority and no doubt would have nailed it anyway, but the energy of Medina’s approach all of a sudden seemed to veer into franticness and desperation. A final bomb set had an opportunity to best Robinson but Medina needed something incredible to make it, and the sense was that he had red-lined for too long to find it.
Physically and mentally, he had given everything in what was the best Final's Day performance of the year, despite being on the wrong side of the result.
That takes nothing away from Robinson. Jack repeatedly referred to his sense of relaxation in barrelling waves. Calm in the chaos has been his defining quality for the last two years. The buzzer beaters and Finals wins against surfers who seem unbeatable keep stacking up.
All that remains now is to crack the uncrackable nut of Filipe Toledo at Trestles.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Great write up FR.
Actually turned out to be a compelling couple of days, stoked by the drama of making the final 5, but ultimately enabled by the quality of tube riding to navigate the tricky conditions.
Beautiful summation FR. Thanks for all your wraps. They've been the perfect side dish to the main event, or maybe the other way around even!
And after a day of sooking that the Mighty Matilda's didn't get through to the big dance, it sure was good to see an Aussie, let alone a West Aussie taking out the comp and getting through to the final!! You bloody ripper Robbo!
Looking forward to seeing Pickles and Robbo hopefully bring it all home in a couple of weeks. (and fingers crossed on an EE recovery).
Fingers crossed for a better lineup of locations and some more barrelling waves next season. Makes it worth watching!
Also.. in hope that someone from the WSL media reads these... can we ditch the royalty free music in the ads on repeat? It fucking kills me, and I want to watch.
I usually love your writing, but your blatant pro-Medina stance taints this write-up. An Australian kicked his ass this contest to not only appear in Finals at Trestles, but also to compete for Australia in the Olympics; yet, the bulk of your article is about Medina. So I say, to betray my anti-Medina bias, glad to not have him at Trestles or in the Olympics; barring of course the WSL not flip flopping on their final five stance, which is entirely plausible.
Bit harsh, but yeah Jack just won an event that he had to win to make the finals, including beating Medina with an ice cold display. Great effort by him worthy of much praise.
if blatant pro- medina stance is calling him the form surfer of the comp (which he was) then most of us would be in your anti medina target
robbo was a deserving winner- so would medina been if it rolled differently
great wrap steve, & thx for the year….don’t think i’m gonna tune in for the final - i soooo hope they scrap this format moving forward, cheers
Settle down, the main feature of FR's writing is his distinct lack of bias! He calls it like it is, has done for years.
He calls it like it is to his biased mind.
It was the same for him on beach grit, constant Medina worship,
Difficult for many to accept Gabriel is the leading competitive surfer of his generation; leader of the pack; slayer of the old guard.
The author's on the record for not 'having a nationalistic bone in his body' (sorry if misquoted). If you're a true pro-surf fan and not just anti-Brazzo, you want GMed around. He's era-defining.
Nationalism=tribalism.
@TheWhoSellOut I'd have to agree with you on the "unusually" bias opinions in this article.
@Steve you wrote "[robbo]who was the sole surfer on Finals Day not made to look foolish by Gabe’s Teahupoo mastery"
I feel that's an incorrect [and very bias] statement Steve.
Did Gabe comprehensively beat everyone except Jack Robbo? Yes, but I don't see how that suddenly makes everyone else look "Foolish"?
I can't think of any of the pros at this level as being foolish. They make mistakes and have bad heats but they ain't no fools.
That’s the thing about clever writers, every word isn’t intended to be literal. Re read and you’ll find Steve’s use of metaphor paints a fantastic picture.
………he’s merely pointing out the mastery that is Gabe at Chopes.
and "all great writers have bad habits".
Whilst ever-so-slightly boarding on verbose (not that I can talk) I think Steve's writing is clearly excellent. He tells the archetypal story while highlighting the touchstone surfing and competitive elements. And is always transparent about errors and oversights, and always open to fair criticism.
I think we/SW-ers are very lucky to have such a talented and prudent writer on-bard.
100% Jack. One of the better if not best surf journalists out there. SS is a very talented writer and doesn't get the recognition that he deserves.
The only possibility of bias where Medina is concerned, and particularly in the context of this contest, would be to deny his absolute mastery.
He is like no other surfer on the planet and a gift to all who follow the pros.
That said I'm almost happier reading SS's write ups post contest than watching the events themselves.
Just want to add one thing to my comment above - had the comp on at work today. Two of my colleagues saw it playing and were interested… for about 2 min.
One of them used to surf too. He was underwhelmed by the waves, expecting more of a comp at Teahupoo. Technical tuberiding mastery isn’t enough for surfing to ever crack the mainstream.
Can appreciate the sentiment. I had a bit of work on the last two days so found it hard to get past the mostly dire conditions and enjoy the competition for its own sake. Occasionally a lone heat might transfix me but it was always short-lived.
For me, just one more reminder why contest surfing will never, ever hold mainstream attention.
FWIW if you want to surf Teahupoo alone then those conditions will allow it. Just don't expect to get barrelled like Medina or Robbo.
Wonder if Toledo will do any prep for the Olympics?
Or do what’s best for his country (U.S.A?) and step back and give Medina the reins..
That's a really good point.
When you think about how rabidly diehard and 'passionate' the brazilian surf fans are, you can only imagine they're gonna turn on their own if they see him potentially crumbling at the chance for a gold medal at the expense of a much more rounded and competent surfer in heavy water waves (Medina).
Watch that space i reckon. Could all get quite comical!
Haha yeah true, probably the worst guy at Teahupoo keeping out one of the best
Good on Robbo for keeping his cool in the final. Being combo’d by the inform surfer of the comp would be pretty mind fucking but was able to shut it out and get it done.
I, for one, welcome our new zen overlord.
"Do not try and bend the combo. That's impossible.
Instead... only try to realize the truth. There is no combo.
Then you'll see, that it is not the combo that bends, it is only yourself. "
You get me VJ. You really do.
Jack "grogu" Robinson......
Remember Medina shitting himself, safety surfing Chopes years ago, he's come so far and improved so much. Dogs arse style still, can't learn that apparently.
Entitled to your opinion obviously sprout but I saw a couple of waves of his today and his style was unreal.
One of them, maybe against jjf, he came flying out of a tube and did this huge layback thing then ollied down the sucky double up base of the wave, second one that stands out was again flying out of the tube straight into a massive stylish alley oop that he landed kinda on top of the wave and pulled off.
His tube riding style when he’s way up front on his board is nuts too I think.
I agree sometimes during turns he’s a bit poo-man’ish but this contest he was sublime I thought.
Fair.
Second year he was on tour he won the event in probably the best conditions we've seen on the CT.
“Dogs arse style” hahahaha made me piss myself.. what is that anyway?, doesn’t sound like it’s a good style to have, when referring to either surfing or dress sense?..
Just watching the replay now, haven't got to the final yet.... but faark me, you can't deny Gabs can really, really surf.
If I'm honest, he's grown on me since splitting with Charlie. Seems a different character
Agree, much better without old mate & his incessant whistling.
That was Toledo’s dad @Dazzler. Charlie was always on the beach yelling and gesticulating but Fil’s dad was the whistler - I think it was Ronnie that branded him “The Kettle”
Thanks for write up, only got to see a few sneaky heats whilst working. Got the last 10 minutes of final, unreal win to Robbo!
Geez though Medina looked confident, either deserved to win. Now for title, hopefully Trestles turns on, still think even if all time cannot compare to Pipe, but hey stating obvious ey...
I'm always amazed how the pro photogs always manage to make average surf on 'tv' look like nirvana. Kudos!
Glad you picked up on Leo's efforts there Freeride. I get so lost on Brazilian flight times and Australians cutting edge rails, that I find it nice to be reminded occasionally there is European cavalry among the mix.
Two current World Champions who can’t surf heavy waves and one who has a weak backhand and they both seemingly refuse to work on it.
Professional’s when it's comfortable.
Really enjoyed your write up Steve. Reminded me a bit of Phil Goulds NRL commentary where as the game wears on he often picks out the stress and tiredness of one team in what is a battle of physical strength, and how that affects the result notwithstanding individual and potential brilliance of some of the players.
Jacko won chopes??
Where’s my public holiday ????
My lasting impression from this comp. will be the current world champion and current world no. 1, in the yellow jersey, pulling back or paddling over waves that the local wildcard was spinning and dropping into without a care in the world, like it was nothing to him, which it was.
Toledo has great technique, the fastest since Mick, air game up the ying yang, but lacks the balls to turn and go on waves teenage girls were going this comp. Something's not right. It wasn't even big Chopes.
He deserves an asterisk next to that title.
Caity would easily kick his out there. As would many of the other women.
Kudos to the chix that charged this event, and as much as it pains me to say it, Tyler too. Solid effort all round. They put Fil to shame today.
Shame, shame, shame....... I'm Derryn Hinch. Goodnight. ;)
My theory is that Felipe came on tour at such a young age, I think maybe 17 or 18, that he never did any surf trips to indo, Fiji etc, places with shallow, hollow waves, that he never really got comfortable in those kind of waves. Obviously he’s been to Hawaii plenty of times, but I’ve never seen any photos or footage of him free surfing at big pipe or backdoor, so he’s probably just surfing in the comps and then heading home.
I know his old man is very pushy, maybe he was trying to protect Felipe and his meal ticket, from injury by keeping him away from heavy waves?
Either way the monkey on the back has now become a gorilla, and jeez there will be nowhere to hide next year in the Olympics.
Happened to be in the water when quik were there and some fly ins at good Cloudbreak maybe 8 years back. Some heavy hitters in the water (slater, reef, Bruno santos, pat G, kanoa). Young Leo was the easy standout. Amazing positioning and wave selection with no fear. He was friendly but really focused. Tough kid.
True, Leo doesn't get his props. Pipe finalist this year? (not that it was proper Pipe)...but he can backside barrel.
Just imagine... (potentially) pumping Pipe to finish this year, with so many World Title possibilities, JR, GMed, JJF even still in with a shot?
Instead...it's mid-August, the Season's over, bar 3 heats in a mushy 2'-3' beachie.
Pip twirling around like a dandy.
Logan's legacy.
The yin - yang of competitive pro surfing competing @ arguably the most challenging wave on the planet! As far as Toledo goes watch the You Tube vid of him up against Nathan Hedge in serious 6 to 8ft pumping Chopes ((2017)? & see if your opinion of his tube riding in serious waves of consequence changes! Congrats Jack Robbo & Gabs on stellar performances @ 4ft Chopes which still looks heavy (sometimes) even @ that size.
Yeah that heat against hedgey in 2022 is always overlooked. Yeah he lost to an absolute madman but he packed some legit pits with really nice technique and style. It's definitely still a weakness but I think the level of criticism against him is unwarranted.
Are we meant to get excited over crappy wind swell at chopes? Watched for a couple of minutes and switched off.
Well done Jack
Great effort by Gabe
Hope EE gets back for trestles (he's the only reason I would tune in)
Here's hoping finals day format disappears after this year
Hope chopes fires for Olympics to see what FT does
Rad. I hated Gabs a few years ago when it was all arrogance, but he's become so rounded and humble that you have to respect the dude. I wonder if he looked at Italo and went 'don't wanna be that'.
I actually can't believe Robbo pulled off the win.
If you roll it out to the Olympics, you can't look much past Robbo for the gold. John and Robbo final in solid Chopes. Definitely worth watching.
Interesting question will be who will surf for the French at the Olympics? Maxime Huscenot and Joan Duru OR Matahi Drollet and Kauli Vaast?
Kauli has already qualified through the ISA
If it's solid, it would be so rad to see Matahi take it out.!
Totally think they've made a mistake committing to Chopes when you've got lesser surfing nations involved, but the shakeup potential is massive.
C'mon Steve, am I invisible? Below the line there was one nomination for Layo Fearofaunty (that is how Italians pronounce their e's btw ... "What's the matter you e? Gotta no respect e?")
The delicious oxy-moronic irony of 'Italian Tube Maestro ' titillates me greatly. Rome has a beach, I surf checked it, makes St Kilda look like a surf destination (probs has a pointless surf-cam too lol).
Anyway I think Huey decided the winner. Gabe sat there for what was it 5 final minutes with the single highest wave score waiting for a set that never came. Could've gone either way but super stoked for Jack, what a season he has put together, champion performance, never stopped believing, Respect.
Shame about the vapid finals venue, Jack would be unbackable in legit waves.
World's best surfers in the world's wimpiest finals. *(the trestles years)
Layo Fearofaunty (that is how Italians pronounce their e's btw ... "What's the matter you e? Gotta no respect e?")"
This is flat-out wrong, but carry on anyway.
Eh?
'How do you pronounce the E in Grazie?
Even if you say a simple grazie and accompany it with a nice and friendly tone you'll be sure to efficiently convey your message. Grazie is the equivalent for “Thanks” or “Thank you”. A common mistake among non-native Italian speakers is to pronounce grazie as “gra-zee”, while you should actually say “graht-see-eh”.'
google
Great write up as always Steve.
I’m stoked for Jack, but also kind of gutted that Gabby won’t be in the finals, or at this stage the Olympics. It’s a cruel irony that Gabby qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, while the greatest ever small wave surfer missed out, while Felipe qualifies for Paris, keeping arguably the greatest ever Teahupoo surfer on the sidelines.
The girls are making rapid progress out there, and I think for me the highlight of the event was Caity’s 9 in the semi. Was also impressed by Tyler, Caroline and Vahine. Poor old Steph, I think it might be time to hang up the boots and stick to right hand points.
Finally, wtf was with allowing the girls final to go ahead with that squall blowing the lineup to pieces? Why didn’t they just go on hold for 30 minutes? Any surfer who’s spent time in the tropics knows after the squall passes the wind clocks offshore and the waves pump. Just another example of how slow and rigid the wozzle have become, when to run a surf comp you need to be the exact opposite.
So stoked for Jack, that was an epic final and his unyielding self-belief was there for all to see. As for Gabby, as a former hater I have to say post-Charlie he certainly seems a good fella these days, as evidenced by him paddling over to congratulate Jack with 30 secs still on the clock. Still an absolute monster and competitive beast in a heat, but he's worked out you don't have to be a c.nt out of the jersey. As for the title, I think we all know how that will go down. I wonder if Flippy ever thinks on his embarrassing lack of balls, or if like Italo, he really thinks he's the best?
Thank you Steve for sprinkling some glitter to the otherwise steaming turd that was most of this year’s CT, Teahupoo not withstanding.
So what, they got a nice finals day at Peniche, one classic day at J-Bay and 2/10 Chopes to bookend it all?
You can be unlucky but something is really not working. I’d wager the Challenger series to have been held in more exciting conditions this year. Refer to pumping Narrabeen rights, Wilcox and co getting shacked at Ballito and a couple of fun ones at Snapper in the mix.
Despite how poor a showing the waves were in Tahiti, even the shifty 3-4 foot, short period, crosshore surf separated the have’s from the have nots……..and this is the point of a competitive tour is it not?
Nice to see Tyler developing a serious backhand tube technique, hopefully applies to Pipe. Well done to Caity, Caroline, Vahine and Molly for having a good dig.
Having been an enthusiastic consumer of pro surfing over the years, I’m left feeling a bit like I imagine John Florence is, ‘what if I don’t bother anymore’?
We will see what gets served up for 2024 I guess. Until then I’ll continue my own tour, chasing grains of sand around quiet places here.
A poor segue perhaps; but the record TV viewing of The Matildas indicates a change in expectations from the general public. The overall niceness of that team vs. testosterone blokiness, a changing of the guard perhaps?
The relevance, to quote Peter Mel "Jack's got love in his kitbag of success and the excitement of becoming a father in December" - maybe these more "relatable" heroes will lead to more mainstream support for a sport that simply doesn't look as good on a screen as it feels in real life.
Great write up, FR, as always! Felipe is the best competitive surfer this year by a country mile. Griffin is almost 10,000 points behind him, he has won three contests, come third in another two. He also won both Sunset and JBay, two spots that would remain on the tour regardless of who was in charge. He is clearly the real deal and can and probably will win more world titles. The fact that he is crap at Pipe and Teahupoo is strange as he definitely can work on this area and improve very easily. In my opinion he has consciously decided not to, maybe to avoid injury. He certainly has the will and the drive. Maybe the fear factor is just lodged in his psyche and he can’t shake it. Surely seeing Caitlin and the girls charging must be a tipping point!
Now Kelly is totally done JJF & Felipe are my two fave surfers, so would be stoked to see Felipe get another world tittle, and im glad Medina is out he is a freak and could have won it from 5th position.
This whole surf off thing sucks though and no ending at pipe
Felipe hasn't had to work on his heavy water issues, with the current tour format he is the best in the majority of waves on tour, he could come fourth and still be the favourite at Trestles.
I think it's great the tour had a shake up and they tried a new format, added the wave pool etc as now we know the old format should return.
‘Are we meant to get excited over crappy wind swell at chopes? Watched for a couple of minutes and switched off.’
Haha that’s the truth, not real deal Chopes, more like hot spot left on a crappy day. One born every minute, and selling snow to eskimos, the real cultural crux and drivers on show.
Deluxe to see you still writing and surfing free. And yeh, I remember that first phone call to you. I figure you might not have even been writing this, or be in the water if I didn’t ring, so I’m taking some liberties and I’ll have a bit of a blabber. Airport, air raid sirens, under the bus. It didn’t take much to see where you were at, and back’s will do that to people. I’m approaching 70, started weight training at around 13/14. Around 50 years in the industry. In fact I’d venture to say that I would be one of the first, or in the first lot of surfers to weight train.
So I knew that I could help you, at a professional level. Plus I’ve been in and out of the hole in the blax reef a few times, so no biggy, I went all the way in to get you out. As you know, and plenty, and I mean plenty, of others on here do too, for free. Well not really, I dove into a hole full of swillnut crap, chunder and slathering drivvle. Archived forever. And let’s not forget my super kind, surfer wife either. That gutless, smarmy shit.
Stoked you remembered Leo Fioravanti free, the surfer who broke his back.
‘I learned a lot! How to stay patient, how not to panic, I had to stay strong and above all think positive. I trained a lot and my legs have never been this big before! Now that I'm surfing again I feel way more powerful, and much fitter!’
Did he say:
‘my legs have never been this big before! Now that I'm surfing again I feel way more powerful, and much fitter!’
Just to be clear:
‘my legs have never been this big before! Now that I'm surfing again I feel way more powerful, and much fitter!’
https://www.redbull.com/ph-en/leonardo-fioravanti-is-back-in-the-water
Well, well, well whoda thunk it? Me. Only me. Archived here forever. Well, things do have a way of being deleted around here.
‘Way back in the day, most pro surfers didn’t train. They surfed, sure, but they didn’t train like athletes. It’s only been a relatively recent development, and it’s due largely in part to surfers like Mick Fanning and Taylor Knox. Now, of course, pretty much every surfer — on tour, at least — has some kind of training regimen. Leonardo Fioravanti is no different. He’s got a home gym. He uses it religiously.
“The gym is a huge part of my life,” he said from his gym in Hawaii. “A lot of my workouts consist of strength.’
https://www.theinertia.com/surf/leonardo-fioravanti-shows-how-to-workout...
That big legs thing, they are all heading there now. Medina, Flores, Italo, I saw it in all the other sports. There will be stragglers, even dinosaurs. And monumental bungles, bungles often based around overtraining (Nate Florence, Koa Rothman), but they’re pouring themselves into it, they’ll get there. Hopefully. And technique bungles. Like all the other ‘athletes’ way before them.
Some still haven’t learned though, The drive that it takes to excel athletically is a double edged sword. Overtraining. Yet its so ridiculously simple. Like a callous or sun tan. You don’t go brown out in the sun, its stress, you burn. You don’t get a callous while something is rubbing your skin, its stress, don’t stop you’ll just get a blister. Or worse. Same with exercise, its stress, you adapt, compensate, grow when you rest. Athletes are terrified of ‘rest’. Our whole culture is… ‘bloody bludgers’. ‘Bloody abos’. The smartest athletes find the least amount of training to get the results. That leaves tons for recovery, practice, life and… surfing your brains out. Without getting crippled or injured, not having too many mistakes, ‘unforced errors’ creep in. ‘Kelly just got back from 23 hour a day surfs, its mind blowing!’. Truly mind blowing. Kelly just fucked up. Lost what he’d already won, because of a mental collapse, mental fatigue, an ‘unforced error’.
Don’t train just to ‘enhance performance’. That bungle. Train to be all over fit, strong athletic and healthy. Go that specific road, and you’ll just enhance the specific, out of balance strength and weaknesses, and wear and tear inherent in all sports. That cause all ‘retirements’.
Forget maintenance, maintaining. Your body doesn’t work like that. Guaranteed road to getting weaker. Strive until your last breath to get stronger, fitter. Nature, your body and mind love that. You’ll love it.
I’m approaching seventy. Trained passionately and religiously for over 55 years. Until recently I hadn’t surfed at all for 5 years, and sporadically for 3 or 4 before that. Before that I surfed my brains out whenever I wanted, in waves of full on consequence. It was a nightmare when in my prime, close to 60, due to, well total bankruptcy, losing millions, I had to stop. Then the covid era. I knew if I could just stay strong, fit, healthy I would surf again.
I’m surfing bombs, blax on roids. Lefts and rights. Got back 5 months ago. Nightmare on Elm Street. Worst wipeouts, beatings imagineable. The ocean wouldn’t give me the conditions I wanted, the deeper water breaks. So, all bombs, out of the trench into a foot or 2 of water. My fitness saved me. Battering after battering. Month after month. The young local boys were horrified. ‘You’re too old now, you’ll be killed’. One morning, washed in over the reef again, belted, I nearly believed them. Maybe I left it too long. Nah, its all in there, years of the latest drops imagineable. On file, open the fucking thing! And the wipeouts. At least I knew how not to get cut to ribbons, or splattered. Pure survival kicked in early. All those lone, wild, ‘look but don’t touch… I warned ya’, blax days and nights. Then it clicked, I hooked into some real ones, a few more each session. Then, one absolutely stunning, dream day. Wave after wave, I was trying things, feeling like a surfer. Every session after that, better and better. Last surf I got the bomb that caught the boys inside and belted them over the reef.
I feel deluxe, and with what’s at my doorstep, I’m thinking the sky’s the limit. Such an awesome feeling knowing that its not your body. That it, your body is actually the enabler, nothing to do with limits.
Anyone can get stronger. Depends how much you want it. Especially in this day and age. Tonight I’ll do another deluxe workout in my gym on my rooftop deck. Moonlight shining off the ocean. Cool breeze off the mountain’s jungle. ‘Yeh well you’re lucky you’ve got a gym’. ‘Nah its not luck, you’ve got yah durries, grog, pizza’s, coke, mull, cars, ad infinitum…’
Then of course nutrition, recovery. Eggs and stuff. Swillnuts.
Say hello to Yazzie for me goofer, I had some deluxe surfs with him. Awesome surfer, beautiful quiver of MR’s, I hope he’s still surfing and having fun.
That’s it for me here, I’m going surfing. The last outpost.
Have fun free.
Bud1, you sound like Herc/Uplift.
If so, good luck to you, glad to hear you’re still kicking. Hope you can keep your stream of consciousness’ posts on the brighter side.
Been a bit slack myself, looking forward to getting back to hitting the weights and doing more surfing. I think I still have a few years left in me, if I do the right thing.
“Bud1, you sound like Herc/Uplift.“
We hat gave you that impression ?
Hahahaha
Welcome back
to surfing
great write up .. good to have someone still making sense haha .. (pic's are epic too).
A pretty epic, deluxe even, Lifty spray.
I found it inspirational anyhow.
I like the sound of your tour Solitude. Construct your own waiting period and format. Enjoy.
Good to see Leo get noticed and in a positive context - he works hard at being a better competitive surfer and doesn't get nearly the credit he should for for his gym work, improving his fitness and his competitive and free-surfing performances.
Top Ten in the World is damn good for any surfer, especially for an Italian surfer.
"We did a huge disservice by overlooking Leo Fioravanti in the opening two wraps. I missed it, but so did you below the line and that was a bad miss by all of us. Leo topped the scoring on Day One, made mince-meat of Jordy Smith in the Round of 16, then put away wildcard Kauli Vaast in the Quarters"
Remember when Thorpedo missed out on qualifying for the olympics in his pet event , and then the guy who did qualify gave up his spot to Thorpey as he was clearly the better swimmer .
Just saying Phil , just sayin ...............
Any news on the WSL Tahiti Heat Analyzer?