Photo: ISA/Pablo Jimenez
You know those kids in high school? The ones who are all popular, perhaps a jock, maybe even the quarterback, or the prettiest girl on campus? They got everything going for them. Then, as they enter adulthood, they lose that shine, that je ne sais quoi.
They peaked too early. They wind up working at a Walmart, with a couple rugrats running around, and their toned figures are replaced by beer bellies and muffin tops.
Now, I’m not saying this is the case with Olympic surfing during the Paris 2024 Games at Teahupo’o, Tahiti; but I’m also not not saying it. On Monday, July 29th, Day Three of the window saw some of the craziest, most dangerous conditions possible at Chopes. It was historic; and not just for the Olympics, but for competitive surfing on the whole. The crowning moment? Gabriel Medina’s highest-scoring Olympic wave to date, and the viral, Brazilian Jesus kickout.
Related: Gallery: This Day Will Go Down in Olympic Surfing History
And Day Four of competition? Not so much.
As the women’s Round Three kicked off competition in subpar conditions – windy, warbly, not a lot of tube potential – from the channel, SURFER photographer Ryan “Chachi” Craig texted me an update: “Holy shit, it’s f*cking awful out here.” And some of the athletes felt the same way.
“It was difficult,” Tatiana Weston-Webb told SURFER after her Round Three win. “Obviously not the conditions everyone prays for when you’re surfing Teahupo’o. I was excited [about the potential to surf on Monday], but at the same time I was really scared. Like, pooping my pants.”
Luckily, the morning sickness cleaned up a bit. The day wound up being an action-packed setup for the finals day to come. Let’s take a look at what’s on deck, and who’s looking good.
On the men’s side
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
When competition resumes, the first semifinal heat for the men will be Peruvian Alonso Correa versus Tahitian favorite Kauli Vaast. Now, Vaast obviously has the local knowledge in all types of conditions out at Teahupo’o; he knows the wave better than anyone else in the field. But Alonso has been looking lethal. He’s taken down big names like Filipe Toledo and Jordy Smith.
Kauli, despite the difficult conditions, was confident after his Quarterfinal win over fellow Frenchman Joan Duru:
“We were grinding out there,” Kauli said after the heat. “We had to create opportunities by catching a lot of waves. We were putting two hands in the wave, almost our heads, to stall enough to get in the tube. [Laughs.] I’m just keeping my routine, my same vibe, heat by heat.”
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
On the other side of the Semifinal draw, there’s a scorcher: Gabriel Medina vs. Jack Robinson.
“It’s gonna be a good one,” said Medina. “We’ve always had great battles, me and Jack. Hopefully the waves show up, so we both can surf to our full potential. It’ll be good.”
Related: Gabriel Medina Surfed the Best Wave in Olympic History (So Far)
As for Jack? When asked about Medina, he was coy, curiously vague:
“The road is never straight forward. You always have to push through step-by-step. I’m sure it’s going to be a good matchup. Everyone’s good.”
Note: Jack beat Gabe in the final at the 2023 Tahiti Pro on the CT, so…there’s that.
On the women’s side
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
After slogging through Round Three in the beginning of the day, the women then surfed once again for the Quarterfinals, tying things up nicely in a bow for finals day to come. But before they get to those medal-crowning matchups, they’ll have the Semifinals to survive.
Johanne Defay knocked out Carissa Moore (more on that later; this was quite possibly Carissa’s competitive career dénouement, and things got quite emotional on the beach after her loss), and the Frenchwoman will go on to face America’s last remaining competitor, Caroline Marks.
Related: Surfing Is the Most Dangerous Olympic Sport; Day Three Proved It
“Today gave me a lot of confidence,” said Johanne. “I think I’m more relaxed now. At the beginning of contests, things are a bit tricky. The more you go, the more you get your rhythm. I’m just going to go with the flow, and stick to my game plan going into the next round.”
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
Next up, Tatiana Weston-Webb will take on Brisa Hennessy – both of which had stellar performances at the 2024 Tahiti Pro. Tati got a Perfect 10, and Brisa got second to Vahine Fierro.
But conditions might not be the same as they were for the CT event. As for Tati, she’s feeling confident, no matter what the conditions may look like for the next round of matchups.
“I feel very grateful that we’ve had a lot of camps here,” she said. “I’ve surfed a lot in these not-so-great conditions, so it helped me a lot to be really aware of the lineup. I’m comfortable knowing how to get good waves, when the waves aren’t actually that good.”
What comes next?
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
Well, the Semifinals obviously. And then the Bronze medal matchups, followed by Silver and Gold. But when that may go down, as it has been with this tricky Teahupo’o forecast window, is somewhat of an unknown. It looks like Saturday has good potential, but there’s a cheeky chance for the end of the window, too. According to the latest update from Surfline, they’re calling:
“Over the weekend we expect a modest uptick in SSW swell that fills in for Saturday PM, peaks overnight, then eases on Sunday…Through the past week or more we’ve been monitoring the timing of the potential swell at the end of the contest window. The timing of that has bounced around but it looks increasingly promising that we’ll see rising SSW swell for Monday the 5th.”
So, while the forecast may not be promising anything like the day of days on Monday, Olympic surfing has yet to peak like those kids from high school. There’s still medals to be won, damnit.