SURF
Brazilian surfer faced sea without waves in the dispute that led to his elimination
Published on November 8, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Gabriel Medina Credit: Willian Lucas/COB
After many controversies due to the lack of waves in the seas of Teahupo’o during surfing events at the Paris Olympics, there is still no definition as to where the competitions will take place at the 2028 Olympic Games. Gabriel Medina, Brazilian surfing idol, spoke out in favor of the use of wave pools to carry out tests.
Last Tuesday (5), Medina participated in a meeting at a theater in São Paulo, with the presence of Filipe Toledo, also a Brazilian surfer. The event marked the launch of a club with a wave pool, which will open next year.
Medina and Toledo, responsible for winning seven of the last ten seasons of the World Surfing Tour, will meet again in the championship next year, after a few years away due to mental health issues.
In the conversation, the two commented on the famous ‘Brazilian Storm’, the Brazilian storm that demonstrates immense strength in surfing championships, as well as the possibility of using a wave pool in the next Olympics. The next season starts in January, and features eleven surfers in the men’s WSL.
“We have to be ready for any situation. I like the pool. I love the sea. Of course I had a situation that I had never been through in my life. Which was now in Teahupo’o. That didn’t come a wave. It’s part of it. The sea has its mysterious side, which is cool, which makes the sport cool”, commented Medina in an interview with Globo Esporte.
“The wave pool is something more certain, more performance. Both would be cool. In the United States, I would choose a swimming pool. If it’s in Hawaii, I’ll take Hawaii”, he added.
There is still no definition regarding the use of wave pools in the next Olympics, but it seems that if the change is decided, the events would take place in American surfer Kelly Slater’s wave pool, the Surf Ranch. The structure has already hosted some stages of the world surfing league.
If they don’t take place in Slater’s pool, the events could be in Trestles, Huntington Beach or Hawaii, the venue for WSL 2025.
“There are rumors that it will be on the beach, but anything can happen, I think that until then there are great possibilities for more wave pools to appear. I think that at the time it will happen and where it will happen, suddenly, the wave pool would be something more certain. But whatever comes our way, we have to be prepared”, commented Toledo.
Complete surfing calendar in 2025:
- Pipeline, Hawaii – January 27 – February 8
- Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi – February 14th to 16th
- Peniche, Portugal – March 15th to 25th
- Punta Roca, El Salvador – April 2 to 12
- Bells Beach, Australia – April 18th to 28th
- Snapper Rocks, Australia – May 3rd to 13th
- Margaret River, Australia – May 17th to 27th
- Lower Trestles, USA – June 9th to 17th
- Saquarema, Brazil – June 21st to 29th
- Jeffreys Bay, South Africa – 11th to 20th July
- Teahupo’o, Tahiti – 7 a 16 de Agosto
- WSL Finals: Cloudbreak, Fiji – August 27th to September 4th
