Forty surfers are about to make Olympic history, debuting the wave-riding sport for the first time in front of millions of viewers.
More than most of the other 41 sports in the summer games, surfers will have the added drama of relying on Mother Nature to bring a wave of action for the athletes in the water.
The unpredictability of the ocean can be a factor that makes or breaks a podium finish for the athletes, who are already at Tsurigasaki Beach in Japan warming up in the waters where the surf contest is expected to kick off this weekend.
In Southern California, surfing is a popular pastime and sport, but even the most seasoned surfers might need a guide for what’s to come at the Tokyo games.
Here’s a bit of Olympic surfing 101 to get you stoked for the sport’s debut:
Will there be surf?
One of the most important elements for surfers will be whether or not nature will deliver waves to actually ride.
The beach the event is being held at, Tsurigasaki Beach about 45 miles southeast of Olympic Stadium, is known for being small and gutless this time of year – and there’s been worry leading up to the event that there will be lackluster waves to showcase the surfers’ skills.
It’s now close enough to the event that forecasters at Surfline.com, a Huntington Beach operation that is the official forecaster for the event, are seeing potential for a tropical cyclone on the horizon for opening weekend.
“Believe it or not, we have a typhoon,” International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre said while standing on the sand of the contest site Thursday morning. “The only thing we couldn’t plan, was the surf, the waves. The waves are coming. It’s incredible.”
The swell brought by the tropical system is expected to fill into Japan’s coastline on Sunday, July 25, starting in the 3-to-4-foot range and reaching 5-feet to 7-feet by the end of the day.
Solid head-high to overhead surf is expected to continue Monday, dropping to about 4-foot surf, with occasional 5-footers on Tuesday, and more size filling in by the afternoon. Another favorable tropical system could bring more waves for the second half of the next week, a buffet of waves that’s good news for surfers ready to battle it out for gold.
Ideally, the waves will have enough punch in size so athletes can do big carves on the wave faces or punt to the sky to do progressive aerials above the lip of the wave, or even create hollow waves to allow the surfers to tuck into barrels. Forecasters are also watching winds carefully, because even if there’s swell, bad weather can create choppy, messy conditions that could force them to wait for a better day.
The event needs at most four days of contestable surf, but could be compressed into two and a half days if needed.
Who to watch?
Will team USA, with two Hawaiian surfers and two hailing from San Clemente, have a chance to win gold? Or will a Brazilian storm sweep through to nab the medals? Or maybe one of the underdogs will bring an upset to the world’s best.
Much like the U.S. Open of Surfing held in Huntington Beach, the 40 surfers are made up of some of the top surfers in the world who have claimed international titles and others who are up-and-comers hungry to make a name for themselves.
For the men’s competition, Team USA’s Kolohe Andino, of San Clemente, and John John Florence, of Hawaii, are going to have a lot of local supporters cheering them on. Both are recovering from recent injuries that might impact their surfing if not fully healed.
No one will debate the strength of the Brazilian team with two world champions, Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira, who are among the best aerialists in pro surfing with the ability to fly high above the waves, but are also strong in their power surfing.
Team Japan will be one to watch, not just because Kanoa Igarashi is a beloved Huntington Beach native. Igarashi, whose parents are from Japan, is a rock star in Japan and will have the support of locals there pumping him up, as will teammate Hiroto Ohhara, who like Igarashi has won the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.
On the women’s side, USA Surfing’s Carissa Moore, of Hawaii, and Caroline Marks, a Florida transplant who has been calling San Clemente home for several years, are powerhouse surfers; Moore with four world championships to her name and Marks winning several World Tour events in just the few short years she’s been ranked among the world’s best.
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons will be a team to watch, with Gilmore staking claim to more world titles – a total of seven – than any other female surfer in history.
But here’s the thing about the Olympics: Anyone can take home gold.
Add in the unpredictability of the ocean, known to go flat when a score is needed most or deliver waves to a surfer in need of a big score, any of the surfers have a fighting chance.
What’s the schedule?
The event has an 8-day window for the contests to be held on the best days of that time period.
An early schedule has the men’s and women’s round 1 and 2 starting Saturday, July 24, at 3 p.m. PDT (Sunday morning in Japan), with round 3 resuming on Sunday July, 25.
From the early schedule listed on NBC’s website, which will have live web coverage of all heats, it looks like the surfing runs straight through until the finals day on July 28.
That schedule could change as the event nears and surf forecasts become clearer. The competition is held on the best days of the waiting period, which runs through Aug. 1.
It’s unknown what kind of live television coverage surfing will receive, but NBC will be the station to check locally for broadcasts and highlights. To watch live online or to see schedule changes as the surf contest approaches, go to nbcolympics.com/surfing.
What’s the format?
Even seasoned surf fans may need a primer for the format, which is going to be different than the traditional World Surf League events.
For the Olympics, there will be six rounds of 30-minute heats, which feature a mix of five- and four-surfer heats and one-on-one rounds to narrow the field of 20 men and 20 women.
Here’s the breakdown from the International Surfing Association, the governing body for Olympic surfing:
The first round, with four surfers in five heats, is non-elimination. The top two surfers advance to round 3, while the bottom two surfers go to round 2, the first elimination round.
In round 2, there will be two heats with five surfers each, while the top three advance and the bottom two are eliminated.
Two surfers will go head-to-head in round 3, with the surfer who places first moving through the bracket. The surfer who places second is eliminated.
The quarter-finals will again see surfers go head-to-head, with the top surfer advancing and the second surfer eliminated. The same format will play out in the semi-finals, only the bottom two surfers will go to the bronze medal match, where the winner earns the third step on the podium.
For the finals, a two-person heat will decide the winner of the gold medal, with the second place surfer earning the silver medal.
How are they judged?
Scores are based on the size of the wave and the combination of major maneuvers performed – with judging criteria based on “speed, power and flow.”
For every scoring ride, the highest and lowest scores from five judges are discarded and the surfer receives the average of the remaining three. The two best scoring waves are added together to become a surfer’s heat total.That’s where Mother Nature can have a big part in the contest outcome. In surfing, some heats could see a plethora of waves for surfers to choose from and score on, while in other heats the ocean to go flat and offer less opportunities for catching a wave, leaving a surfer staring out toward the horizon wishing for a wave as the clock counts down.
Surf competitors wear different colored jerseys to help the judges distinguish the surfers. A color-coded electronic board indicates to surfers which color jersey has the first right to take the wave of their choosing.
Want to join a watch party? Nomad’s Cantina, located at 102 Avenida Cabrillo in San Clemente, plans on streaming the surf contest Saturday, July 24, if the contests starts that day.
Check out 10 things to know about Olympic Surfing at isasurf.org.
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