Rio Pro 2024: Day Two

It's gonna be a purely positive recap on last night's action so switch off now if the lack of poison pen offends.

Here have a TL:DR before you go: Just go watch Italo Ferreira's heat.

There was a lot to like, even if most of the performances in chunky, weird, six foot rip bowl lefts weren't quite up to par. For those who could employ a rip bowl mentality and method - basically catching a million waves and remaining in the strike zone on the bank - there was a ton of high performance fun to be had.

Italo in the air for 8.50 (WSL/Smorigo) 

No surprises for guessing Italo made the most of it. If taurine ever becomes a banned substance his career is over, but for now he's free to quaff as many Red Bulls as he likes and get that heart rate up into the red zone while he destroys anything that moves. Judges paid the two big airs he did, the first of the day amazingly. I preferred the opening 7.83 with a big gouging turn and a fins-free board slide crack to the closeout. As far as two turns on the face go, you couldn't get much better. In the end, an 8.5 and a 9.00 sent Rio Waida packing.

Italo on the face for 9.00 (WSL/Smorigo) 

Medina caught nine waves, Houshmand caught two, so simple rip bowl arithmetic would suggest Medina won. He did, but it was desperately close. 0.33 separated them at the end of the heat. It was a strange mirror image of their Bells Heat which Medina deemed the “worst judging I have ever seen”, presumably because they paid Houshmand's meat and potatoes backhand surfing over Medina's more radical/progressive approach.

This time it was Gabe offering up tradesmanlike surfing while Houshmand offered up big tail high airs. No disrespect meant to the Narrabeen Iceman but there was a lot of Damien Hardman in Medina's showing. A little eyebrow-raising for a man who has spent a lot of professional capital wailing long and hard about judges not rewarding progressive surfing.

Cole tail high for a controversial 5.50 - though his low wave count was no-one's fault but his (WSL/Smorigo) 

Anyhow, Gabe through and with that crucial heat win, he elevated himself into the Final Five for a few heats by leapfrogging Jordy Smith who visibly railed against a very softball question on the glass about his career by emphatically stating “I'm not done. I'm still in it!”

With his heat win against Ryan Callinan, Jordy regained the last place in the five and sent Gabe back to six. For now, the Three Horseman (minus Toledo, the Fourth Horseman) Gabe, Yago, and Italo all still sit outside the five. That tussle will be fun to watch on Finals Day with all four combatants still alive in the draw.

Though the day's spotlight fell elsewhere, Yago once again added his share to the highlight reel (WSL/Smorigo) 

Jack Robbo is gone. The only member of the top five to exit early and bad signs for his campaign after the very disappointing 17th place finish in Tahiti. It would be incomprehensible to see Jack get knocked from the five with Cloudbreak still in play, but the pressure will be intense if he gets bounced in Brazil.

What's going wrong..? A minor succession of events which is just starting to give off a tiny whiff of desperation. It started when Kelly Slater out-paddled him in their Opening Round heat in Tahiti, pushing Jack out of rhythm and forcing him to pick up Slater's scraps. He surfed amazingly in the Elimination Round against Yago but was just shaded in a heat that could have gone either way. Looked OK in El Sal, not great, and last night was sent out in the worst conditions of the day and found nothing. A little run of bad luck - just one of those things in professional surfing. Once judges get a little whiff of it, it's like blood in the water for our grey-suited friends. It creates its own momentum, its own spiral. Whole careers go down the drain in these self-perpetuating spirals. Matty Wilkinson being Exhibit A.

Shoulders slumped, Jack receives familial consolation (WSL/Diz)

Breaking this cycle of mediocre results seems to be the hardest thing in professional surfing. You can't 'outwork' this bad luck. You can employ the most experienced coaches, have the best boards, train and be super fit. Kanoa Igarashi is a case in point. He finished last year in a disappointing 14th position. Put his old coach Jake Paterson back on the payroll, invested time and money into a new blog series called Eye Of The Storm - two stars, it's very boring - and now after a last place finish in Brazil he sits in 16th spot with one event left in play.

I was sure Ryan Callinan had the best backhand on tour after his third place at Sunset this year and performances at Bells and J'Bay last year. Surely this would be his breakout year..? He finished last year in 10th and sits currently in 14th.

Why? How?

As my son and his mates say: “It's not that deep"

Bad luck creates its own momentum.

John found clean water on the rights (WSL/Smorigo)

Conversely, of course, success begats success. John Florence is floating like a butterfly right now, stinging turns through big crapulous bowls highlighted by big, round bottom turns. John is more likely than ever, with his Quarter-Final finish at a minimum, to cruise into Trestles in pole position. The whole credibility of the Finals Day caper is then on the line. If John does a Carissa there will be howls of protest so loud they will make it to the Ziff compound in Florida. Nervous moments for new CEO Ryan Crosby if John got bounced in straight sets after his dominant year.

The highlight of the day for me, apart from Italo's rampage came as another fiery Saquarema sunset unfolded in the last heat of the day and Strider cut to one last surf check.

Immediately, my nasty little black heart thought 'dogshit'. But Strider was surrounded by a gaggle of kids, all so happy and smiling and full of joy that I had to recant my cynicism. No, I thought, this is of value. This is bringing some joy to the world. That can't be a bad thing can it?

// STEVE SHEARER