Olympic Surfing Day One: Team USA Comes Out Guns Blazin’

Michel Bourez is wearing jellies. Those clear plastic sandals, perhaps a precursor to Crocs, which were the footwear du jour for tween girls in the nineties. “They’re the best shoes for Teahupo’o,” he tells me. “Believe me, bro.” I trust him; he would know.

It’s opening day for surfing at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which – if you didn’t know, welcome back to the world after your year-long hibernation – is happening 10,000 miles away from the City of Love in the tiny village of Teahupo’o, Tahiti. Amidst the media circus on the beach, local legends like Michel are milling about, Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost chatting it up with the surfers (stay tuned for our interview), the competition kicked off in overhead conditions with some clear favorites (along with some surprise underdog standouts) emerging from the pack.

Gabriel Medina vs. John John Florence…a preordained final?

Mainly, as expected on the men’s side, it was the Gabriel Medina and John John Florence show. Talk to anyone around the event site, and they’re the obvious favorites to meet in the final. John dropped the highest heat total of the day (9.33 + 8.00 = 17.33), and Gabe looked fierce as always with a resounding Round One win. But don’t count out Griffin Colapinto; 17.03 ain’t bad.

“My biggest competition?” said Gabe. “There’s a lot of great surfers – John, Jack, João, Kauli – they’re going to be really hard to beat. People say that [I’m one of the favorites to win gold], but I respect every surfer. I love watching John, Jack, and João. They’re insane out here.”

“It’s hard to keep up with these guys,” Gabe added. “They’re hungry. I’m 30 years old now. I feel like I have experience, but I’m still learning. These guys coming make you surf your best.”

As for John, his trademark casual demeanor – in and out of the water – was palpable, despite competing for practically the one-and-only trophy he has yet to win, locking in a 9.33 in Round One, emerging as a gold medal favorite, and (potentially) on his way to fulfill the prophecy.

He came out of his heat a little banged up, some scrapes on his shins; but it was no biggie. “Yesterday I hit the reef a little bit,” he laughed. “I barely touched it, too, on a one-foot wave.”

John continued: “A final with Medina would be amazing. We’ve had incredible heats out here together. He’s one of my favorite competitive surfers; he’s a machine at competing. I think we have a long way to go to see what happens there. My goal is to win. Other than Medina, there’s a lot of really good surfers in this event. João Chianca is an amazing barrel rider, Jack Robinson is amazing, Griffin Colapinto is a really great surfer, Kauli Vaast is looking really good.”

Team USA on top for the women

Around midday, when Round One of the men’s division was done and dusted, the women were sent out. And arguably, they got better waves than the men. The swell picked up a bit more; there were periods of offshore flow; and the barrels became more boxy, hollow, and square.

In Heat One, Team USA’s Caroline Marks made a statement with the highest scoring wave of the event so far, a 9.43. She took off late, airdropped into the flats, somehow held on, and tucked under the lip for a tube. Not a long one, but the dramatics sure helped her cause with the judges.

“Sheesh! I made it a little hard on myself,” Caroline told me afterward. “I was pretty late, and I was on my tippy-toes. For a moment there, I had a little doubt. Like, ‘gosh, I might not make it.’ I guess the ones that you think you’re not going to make, but you do, those are the ones you want. I knew I needed a backup score, so thankfully I made that one. It felt pretty good.”

So far, all of Team USA has won their Round One heats. Caitlin Simmers took out heavy-hitters Molly Picklum (Australia) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil). Griffin Colapinto knocked out local favorite Kauli Vaast (France) and South American tube hound Lucca Mesinas (Peru). As for Carissa Moore, reigning gold medalist, she started slow in her heat against Shino Matsuda (Japan) and Teresa Bonvalot (Portugal). But damn, did she finish strong…a 9.00 and a pocket 7.5 to seal the deal. Look out world, Team USA is on fire, and looking like the ones to beat.

And Caroline spoke to that team aspect, the camaraderie, something not often seen in surfing:

“John John and Griffin got me really psyched. I was already excited, but they got me really exvited. They killed it, so that was really fun to watch before I went out. We’ve had such good vibes on our team. And I heard Carissa Moore saying ‘good vibe tribe.’ And that’s so true.

“Everyone has been so positive, and so excited to be here. It’s really rare to stay with your other competitors. It’s a very individual sport, and we’ve been feeding off each other’s energy. We are all here individually to win our medals, but we’re also backing each other along the way.”

Underdogs? Not anymore.

One of the biggest upsets from Round One of the men’s division came in Heat Three: Alonso Correa (Peru) vs. Filipe Toledo (Brazil) vs. Kanoa Igarashi (Japan). The latter two, obviously, have the elite level competitive experience. But Correa curb-stomped them with an 8.50.

“I was nervous at first, then it started and I got in the game,” Alonso said. “I thought I was too deep, but when I entered the tube, everything was clear. I could see the reef below, the incredible colors. I airdropped and made it. It looked a little messy at first. But as soon as I started paddling, it started sucking up on the reef. I was telling myself, ‘don’t f*ck this up!’ [Laughs.]”

As the conditions shift, and it may not be perfect Chopes in the coming days, these so-called “underdogs” might be less “under” and more “dogs” – dogs worth betting on.

On the horizon

No official call has been made yet about competition for tomorrow, Sunday, July 28th. But, according to the swell sensei, Surfline’s Kevin Wallis, there should still be some waves.

“Heading into tomorrow, the swell is going to back down into the morning,” he said on social media. But we should see it come back up in the afternoon. Similar types of winds, too. Probably clean in the morning, lightly offshore, and then swirling around a little bit in the afternoon.”

Oh, and after Carissa’s domination in the final heat of the day, Colin Jost reemerged with his handlers, and shouted to nobody in particular: “I guess it’s a good day to be an American!”

Meanwhile, I’m off to find some jelly shoes, so me and Michel can match tomorrow.