Grumari is a word that rolls off the tongue, like a combination of words gruesome and grim. And Griswold. And gristle. Negative words all of them. The waves however, were positive, and the surfing even more so.
The wave itself is a funky, backwashy kind of peak that showed flashes of brilliance in amongst the contestable sets. Less crushing close-outs, and more open walls for carves and rail surfing.
Rail surfing is what Italian surfer Leonardo Fioravanti epitomized in his heat against Stuart Kennedy and Gabby. Stu has had a breakthrough start to his year and has become immensely popular for his gritty approach to life, but it was of no use against the rampant Italian, who put Kennedy in second, and deposed a world champ into the second round while at it.
Leo Fioravanti kept up his hot streak. Photo: WSL/Daniel Smorigo
The next blinder performance was that of the new Tom Carroll – rookie Brazilian goofy-footer Italo Ferreira. Two massive hooks on his backhand on a set wave saw him rewarded with a 9-pointer, and he backed it up with a critical forehand rotation for 7.5 and the easy win against Miguel and Bino Lopes.
Bino Lopes?
With Otton, Wright, Burrow, Durbidge, Parko and Kelly Slater out, the likes of Dusty Payne, Leo Fioravanti, Deivid Silva, Marco Fernandes, Bino Lopes and Adam Melling all got their call-ups into the event, changing the face of the contest completely.
In fact, the top ten rankings prior to Rio are so refreshing at the moment. Guys like Italo in number 3, and not many old-schoolers left in the mix. Parko at 5 and Ace at 10 are the legitimate remaining statesmen, but otherwise it’s Wilkinson and Zietz, Ferreira and Andino, Ibelli and Wilson, Smith and Young, making up what feels like the youngest, most fresh-faced top ten rankings in a decade.
All eyes were on the yellow jersey-adorned Matt Wilkinson but he fumbled, looked out of rhythm, and couldn’t find a wave out there that let him lock into his famous backhand flow that can see him cracking the lip over and again for the big scores. He bounced into the backwash, he didn’t finish his waves cleanly, and was relegated to third place behind Marco Fernandes and Jadson Andre
Micro watches on as Wilko is relegated to round two. Photo: WSL/Cestari
“Destined to be a world champ” is how another fresh-faced young man, Joe Turpel, described Jordy Smith in his heat against Connor Coffin and Jack Freestone, but Jordy is over talking about the phrase ‘world champ,’ or the other phrase ‘world title campaign’. He has decided that he is going to let his surfing do the talking, and just leave the rest to destiny. Showing power and flair, Jordy kicked in, and cracked a few of the wonky sets to get the nod from the judges. A fresh-faced (love that term) Freestone fought hard but didn’t have enough against the unadulterated power of Smith. In fact, Freestone’s most powerful move was probably his intensely frustrated board-cracking antics after his final wave in the heat. Hope he didn’t hurt his hand. Jordy was in control throughout, and now we just need him to do a Redeemer claim to bring all the memories of his 2013 victory flooding back.
“Our heat completely changed, the wind switched and I had to completely adapt,” said Smith. “It feels amazing,” added the visibly stoked big guy on his win and moving directly through to round 3.
Filipe made a successful return to the tour with a round one win: WSL/Daniel Smorigo
JJF was in the last heat of round 1, and although he won his heat against Caio and Matty B, he underwhelmed most with his pocket 5’s, struggling to find a good section to hit. Until the last minute that is, when he flew into a big inverted backhand rote into the crosswind and landed it, only to semi-fluff the recovery, but still enjoy a somewhat undramatic victory. Undramatic? No such word, but you get my drift.
“Hard little closeouts, but you got to do what you got to do,” said John John after his heat, as the crowd cheered him on.
“John John! John John! John John!”
Grumari is a cool venue, better than expected but pretty shit at the end, and it’s definitely not going to deliver waves like that sick 10-point below sea level backhand hole that Kelly Slater scored in 2014 at Barra da Tijuca.
Talking of Kelly, where was Slater?
Probably getting pitted endlessly in his fucking private wave pool.
Oi Rio Pro Men’s Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.77, Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 11.60, Dusty Payne (HAW) 11.30
Heat 2: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 14.30, Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 12.93, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 11.80
Heat 3: Davey Cathels (AUS) 12.00, Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.24, Deivid Silva (BRA) 7.43
Heat 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 16.50, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 10.86, Bino Lopes (BRA) 8.66
Heat 5: Marco Fernandez (BRA) 13.43, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.57, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 8.73
Heat 6: Lucas Silveira (BRA) 15.84, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.80, Keanu Asing (BRA) 13.74
Heat 7: Nat Young (USA) 15.04, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.37, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 5.83
Heat 8: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.37, Conner Coffin (USA) 10.83, Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.70
Heat 9: Adam Melling (AUS) 15.23, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.13, Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.04
Heat 10: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 15.53, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.44, Kolohe Andino (USA) 7.67
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.50, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.46, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.77
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 11.34, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 10.84, Matt Banting (AUS) 6.34
Oi Rio Women’s Pro Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 12.50, Laura Enever (AUS) 11.06, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 10.67
Heat 2: Keely Andrew (AUS)13.17, Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 12.00, Malia Manuel (HAW) 7.07
Heat 3: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 14.76, Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 6.10, Silvana Lima (BRA) 5.50
Heat 4: Tyler Wright (AUS) 15.10, Coco Ho (HAW) 9.10, Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 5.33
Heat 5: Sage Erickson (USA) 12.40, Carissa Moore (HAW) 9.50, Chelsea Tuach (BRB) 7.53
Heat 6: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.93, Alessa Quizon (HAW) 10.33, Johanne Defay (FRA) 9.14