Italo Ferreira is light on his feet, like a cat on a surfboard.
And so, during his stint between competitions in Indonesia, the Olympic gold medalist and World Champ employed those quick reflexes to dodge a loose surfboard mid-tube.
“Breaking waves and guys trying to break me,” Italo captioned the video, as translated from Portuguese.
The vid shows Italo pulling in on a dreamy, albeit tiny, lefthand barrel, when another surfer (likely a beginner) ditches their board mid-face. Italo then must navigate the tube with a loose surfboard in close proximity. Luckily, there was no collision; and Italo carries on with the tube, comes out, and rips the wave to bits following the close call.
As expected, the comments section blew up with commentary on the dangers of beginner surfers in waves that are beyond their skill level, such as:
“Kooks are inescapable worldwide now.”
“The beginner – intermediate in the wrong line up almost strikes again.”
“Just because you can pay for a trip out there doesn’t mean you should go surf there if you can’t surf. Kooks can go anywhere. Sad.”
Yeah, you get the point.
It was reminiscent of another instance, also in Indonesia, that went down last year. A surfer was cruising through a tube in Bali, when two beginners on soft-tops found themselves in the direct path of the tube-riding surfer. Miraculously, there was no collision.
Just another example showing the importance of surfers knowing their limits, paddling out only at waves that match their skill level, and avoiding any unnecessary collisions.
It’s like skiing or snowboarding – master the bunny hill, then hit a black diamond.
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