Tahiti Delivers Again, World Title Contenders Tested at Firing Teahupo’o

Two days removed from one of the best/craziest/heaviest Teahupo’o sessions in years, I was worried about becoming desensitized to the Tahitian slab. So many ridiculous waves have been ridden, wrangled and blasted across social media. Could the WSL Championship Tour really follow that?

Then the first heat of the 2025 Tahiti Pro hit the water, and the doubts disappeared like sea spray. The swell dropped a touch, providing a break from tow-only sets. Glassy overhead barrels, some getting into the expletive range, blessed the CT all day long. 

With wide-open barrels up for the taking, nearly every heat carried significant implications for the sprint to the WSL Finals. The nitty-gritty: Three of the top five surfers lost their opening round heat. Jordy Smith (2), Kanoa Igarashi (3) and Ethan Ewing (5) all were sent to the Elimination Round with their world title hopes on the line. Only two of those three advanced from there.

Despite a lackluster opening round heat wave-wise, Jordy clinched a coveted WSL Finals spot just by showing up to his opening round against Crosby Colapinto and local trials winner Mihimana Braye. With Cloudbreak seeding TBD, Jordy went to the ER to face a 35-year-old Tahitian firefighter surfing in his first CT. Firmin Teiva Tairoa was runner-up in the trials and got the call-up when Alejo Muniz withdrew due to injury. He proceeded to drop an 8.33 and combo the No. 2 surfer in the world for most of the heat. 

But Jordy stayed calm like the 18-year vet he is, picking off a great wave and parking his Pyzel Ghost as deep as possible. The judges ate it up, a 9.5, the best barrel of Jordy’s career at Teahupo’o. He quickly followed it up with another in-and-out, came out screaming and smashing the combo and taking the win. The South African heads to the Round of 16 with his No. 2 spot intact. 

It was forecast that a declining swell, incoming tide and a trickle of trades would conspire to take the wind out of the sails early, so to speak. Fortunately, that was not the case. Right after that forecast was shared by the broadcast team, one of the best matchups of the day went down. Cole Houshmand, in day’s fifth heat, paddled into a scorching 9-pointer. Cole is the biggest guy on tour (6’3, 200 lbs), and this thing towered over him. Not to be outdone, Ethan responded with an 8 for a technical backside barrel that put him high and tight over the foamball. Then Ethan showed true nerves of steel. He dropped anchor for most of the heat, then used his priority on one of the best Teahupo’o waves of his career. He practically welded his inside rail into a proper 8-plus tunnel. 

But just as Ethan took the lead, Cole responded with a true gem of his own. Round, tall and a beautiful mix of south and west swells opened up a path for him to an 8.73. Cole won with a 17.73. A stunner for Ethan, who together a solid 16.57 and needed breathing room on the rankings, but was nonetheless relegated to the Elimation Round.

In the next heat was the man who would (briefly) jump him. The Olympians-Only affair with Al Cleland Jr., Conner O’Leary, and Griffin Colapinto was another highlight. Griffin was the start of this heat, consistently picking off the best waves and getting slotted in style. In one, he was slingshotted into a tunnel, coming from way behind the section and into a screaming channel for an 8.67. He simultaneously pumped into the tube while holding his outside rail in a pig-dog stance. Then he backed it up with a 9.33 for one of the most picturesque draining tubes we’ll probably see in the event. 

Those freesurfs in the Tahitian juice the past few days paid off. No adrenal fatigue for Griffin to notched an 18-point heat total. Conner ended the heat in dramatic fashion, pindroping into a ferocious 10-footer. With Griffin winning and Ethan losing, Griffin took his friend’s spot at No. 5 in the rankings. 

Let’s rewind to the start of the day, which began with hoots and hollers as reigning event champ Italo Ferreira navigated through two solid blue pits, pushing the 8-10 foot range. He easily clinched the first heat on the day and surpassed Kanoa Igarashi to No. 3 on the rankings, a vital step to securing his WSL Finals berth

Speaking of swooping, Kauli Vaast, fresh off a grovelfest at the US Open of Surfing, has returned to his home with a hero’s welcome. The Olympic gold medalist bagged some biggest waves of the freesurf sessions with his younger brother and sister, then way-too-casually caught four dreamy tubes. A 7.97 and 8.33 for what would be lifetime achievements for most surfers was just business as usual for Kauli. He beat Kanoa and Jake Marshall without wearing a leash. It sounds counterintuitive, but he told Chris Cote that he opted to forgo the leash when the waves get bigger because it saves time (and energy) to head to the channel for a backup after a wipeout.

Coming up against recent Teahupo’o standouts Leo Fioravanti and João Chiana, it was fair to call Filipe Toledo an underdog. He ended up last in his heat, but he gave it an honest go. Filipe led for most of the heat courtesy of a 6.83 for a no-grab airdrop into a thick one. It wasn’t a super deep barrel, but it looked cool. He landed another huge drop on a larger wave with three minutes left, but it moved too fast to offer a cover-up.

Meanwhile, Leo proved more patient and picked off cleaner barrels. His time on the reef, especially in the last few days, proved pivotal. One of the highlights (lowlights) of today was a no-make by João who got smoked on what Stace Galbraith appropriately called “the gnarlierst 0.93 you’ll see.”

The Tahitian water patrol tried to get to him in the aftermath and was nearly flipped over by the next set wave. Just like the surfers, these guys have technique. Watch them find the escape route below. 

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Jack Robinson has won 75% of his heats at Teahupo’o in three appearances, and he showed us why today in his heat versus Barron Mamiya and Marco Mignot. His timing is elite. Within 90 seconds, Jack put together two respectable rides on mid-sized waves under priority just as the winds turned cross-shore. Then it went flat for 25 minutes. Barron got a solid one, but Jack got the last wave of the set, soaking up every drop of water like a parched man in the desert. His outsized chance for Cloudbreak lives on. 

Barron versus Al Cleland Jr. in the second ER heat was an instant classic. Two dudes who love nothing more than getting as barreled as possible and don’t mind risking bodily injury to do so. The two traded high 7s before Al summoned a rabbit from his Quiksilver/Monster lid. With 30 seconds left, Al was behind and needed 7.54. He sold Barron on a dud, then dropped into a solid peak right at the horn. He came out right in front of the Hawaii, dropped an 8.70, won the heat, and unleashed a deserved expletive in his post-heat interview.

“This is what I surf my whole life for,” Al said. “These moments, under pressure when you need a score. This is where my Mexican blood comes into play. I can stay super calm in situations when everyone can be stressed. This morning I ate shit on a bomb and knew I was too far out. On this one, I knew I had to be under it. I’m so stoked.”

Stoked turned into a disaster in the next heat. Kanoa faced an ultimatum in his ER matchup. Coming in at No. 4 on the rankings, an appearence in the quarterfinals to guarantee a ticket to Cloudbreak. The problem was trials winner Mihimana Braye and the lineup getting oddly inconsistent. Chaos reigned — a heat restart, out of position for the sets, board bailed and swapped — it was not the scenario coach Jake Paterson would have drawn up. The opposite, in fact. Mihimana got two small but proper waves toward the end of the heat, and the wildcard eliminated world No. 4 by a score of 7.5 to 2.8. An awful result for Kanoa when he needed it least. He’ll be watching from the channel, praying names below him (Jack, Griffin, Ethan) to collide in the quarterfinals.

The final heat with major rankings ramifications was a personal affair. Ethan faced his good friend Seth Moniz not long after Kanoa was ousted. Ethan, sitting at No. 6 after his opening round loss, had to win to keep his title shot alive. Of course, things got interesting. After a sleepy heat restart, fireworks. A tense back-and-forth, back-and-forth exchange in deteriorating conditions. Ethan won a paddle battle over Seth but gave priority right back on a burger. Trailing but needing a high score, Ethan waited and finally picked the one he needed, threading through a 7.57, the highest wave of the heat. He goes back up to No. 5, Griffin back to No. 6. But in Tahiti, things are fluid. Much, much more to come.

Related: Psycho Teahupo’o: 2 Days of Big Wave Insanity In Tahiti (Video)