Gasillions of Brasilians!

FULL PACKAGE: Jordy Smith is starting to string explosive moves together. Photo WSL / Cestari

A busy day at the Oi Rio Pro (halfway through the WSL Championship Tour 2019), saw the beaches of Itaúna (women's round of 16) and Barrinha heaving with more than 20,000 fans watching the third day of the competition.

By the end of the day, the Brazilian storm had petered out into a mild warm front, with only four remaining heading into the quarter-finals, likely to run later today ZA time. Silvana Lima, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Filipe Toledo, and Gabriel Medina will surf, with a capacity crowd expected to cheer on their national heroes.

Smith is heating up in Brasil with a big win over Griffin Colapinto (USA) in the Men's Round of 16. The South African put the American in a combination situation (requiring two new scores) with a 15.63 two-wave total to put him into the quarter-finals were he surfs against two-time event winner and World Champion John John Florence (HAW), who hurt his knee in his win over 2018 event runner-up Wade Carmichael (AUS).

DEMI-GOD: Kelly Slater tries not to let the adoration get into his head. Photo WSL / Cestari

The crowd went mal for the first heat that saw 11-time WSL Champ Kelly Slater (USA) up against defending event winner Toledo. Toledo got a 9.17 to kick off. Slater got the lead by besting Toledo’s massive air with a deep barrel for a 9.50. The heat came down to the final exchanges. Slater earned a 5.33 but was shut down in the last six minutes by Toledo’s tube that got him a 8.67 for the win.

“I started off with a high score, but I couldn’t really hear anything out there,” Toledo said. “There was a lot of wind and the crowd was screaming so I didn’t know what I got or what Kelly needed. But at the end of the heat that set came in and I was able to get that barrel for the win.”

“I went out and surfed with all the locals today and I was at the bottom of the pecking order.” - Kelly Slater“Brasil has been like nowhere else in the world for me,” said Slater. “I remember coming here in 1992 and becoming very well-known and there would be like 20,000 people on the beach and I’d need like ten security guards to escort me to the hotel. I’ve never experienced anything like that. I went out and surfed with all the locals today and I was at the bottom of the pecking order. I think the surfing world kind of shunned Brasil for a long time, and I feel Brasil went ‘Ok, we’re going to make our own rules now,’ and I felt that in the water. I mean, everyone was super cool and I knew a lot of the guys like Raoni (Monteiro) and Leo Neves. It was fun to be with them and they let me have a few waves, it was super fun.”

PACKED HOUSE: The power that Brazil wields as a super power is obvious. Photo WSL

Gabriel Medina (BRA) closed the day with another big performance, this time defeating Michel Bourez (FRA) for his place in the Quarterfinals. Medina has had a tough season so far with two consecutive 17th place results but will hope to rocket past the Quarterfinals, his best result of the season. The loss is Bourez’s fourth 9th place result this year.

“I’m happy that I won that heat, but conditions were hard and the wind made the wave face bumpy,” said Medina. “Now we’ll just have to wait for tomorrow and I hope the waves get better so I can surf more. I think it’s unfortunate that we came to Barrinha. I didn’t feel it was the right decision. We don’t surf any lefts on Tour and now that we finally get a chance to surf at Itaúna, they put us on the rights at Barrinha. It’s tough being a goofy-footer on Tour. If you want to win a World Title as a goofy, you really need to surf well.”

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), seven-time WSL Champion, moves into her fourth Quarterfinal this season after winning against Paige Hareb (NZL) in Heat 7. Gilmore, the defending event winner, is World #1 but has only advanced past the Quarterfinals once this season at the Corona Bali Protected. Gilmore’s next heat will be against Courtney Conlogue (USA), World #5.

SILVA SURFER: Rookie Deivid Silva's Brasilian run was ended by Kolohe Andino. Photo WSL

Kolohe Andino (USA), World #2, halted rookie Deivid Silva’s (BRA) run in Brasil with an excellent 8.07 and a 6.00. Silva needed a 7.55 to advance but was not able to score past his 6.53 during the overlapping heat. Silva is still searching for his breakthrough event past this round and will now prepare for the 6th stop on the CT.

Last year, Carmichael powered through a full day at Barrinha to earn his career-first Finals appearance but was unable to match that rhythm again earlier yesterday. Needing a 6.17 against John John, the Australian only scored a 3.83 on his last attempt and will leave in Equal 9th place. Despite the win, Florence hurt his knee and probably has a day to prepare for Jordy Smith.

“I had a ton of speed on my last wave and I was going to do a turn and it was kind of breaking already and so I just tried to do a fly away, but the wave broke on my back leg and buckled the same knee I injured last year,” said Florence. “It just got tweaked and I was in a little bit of pain. It’s super powerful out there right now and I get really excited to do airs. I’m going to get it looked at and see how it feels tomorrow.”

Florence’s and Kanoa Igarashi’s (JPN) support from the Brasilian fans was raucous, especially for both surfers’ 7-point rides that gave them the advantage over their competitors. Igarashi sits #4 on the Jeep Leaderboard, and his Quarterfinal berth helps his ranking points after #3 Italo Ferreira’s elimination. Now, the 21-year-old needs to get through Toledo to match his success in Bali. Other standouts in the chunky surf at Barrinha were Julian Wilson (AUS), and Frederico Morais (PRT).

ON YOUR MARKS: Caroline Marks hangs on to 2nd place in the rankings. Photo WSL / Poullenot

Keely Andrew (AUS), replacement for Tyler Wright (AUS), dispatched World #2 Caroline Marks (USA). Andrew suffered a knee injury in October last year that pulled her out of the final two events to hinder her requalification for the 2019 CT. As replacement, Andrew has had the past five events to make a comeback for a full-time spot but this result is Andrew’s first past the R/16. She surfs against event favorite Lima in the Quarterfinals. Marks exits in Equal 9th, her 2nd Round 3 elimination in 2019 after a first-place on the Gold Coast and finalist at Bells and Western Australia.

2018 Oi Rio Pro runner-up Lakey Peterson (USA) eliminated rookie Macy Callaghan (AUS) in the R/16. Earlier this month, Peterson conquered the wild conditions in Western Australia for the win and showed the same composure yesterday in the rough surf. Peterson will match-up with Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), who took down Johanne Defay (FRA) in R/16, Heat 2.

“I was out there while it was still dark because I was in the first heat and I just wanted to feel it before I got out there in a heat, that’s something super important to me,” said Peterson. “I went out on a 5’,9” and thought ‘nope’, there’s too much water moving, so I moved up to a bigger board. But I’m super stoked to make it through because it was a really grindy heat.”

Highlights and results are available at www.WorldSurfLeague.com and the WSL App.