10 Photos That Tell The Story Of Day One At The MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal
Opening Day Of The MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal
Jack Robinson soars, Gabe Medina and Griffin Colapinto stumble as action gets underway in Europe.
Surfer: John John Florence
Currently ranked number one in the world after the first two events of the year in Hawaii, Florence was able to put together enough of a performance to dodge the elimination round, but given what rival Jack Robinson did in his opening round heat, the two-time world champ is going to have to find another gear to keep pace at Supertubos.
Surfer: Jack Robinson
With the performance of the day, world number two Robinson stole the show with his 8-point alley-oop. “I was just trying to go as high as I could,” Robinson said. “I knew Crosby [Colapinto] was probably going to go big too and the wildcard you never know, so I tried to make do with what I had. It’s good to be back here in Portugal. I went to Puerto Rico for the ISAs and I surfed so many heats there, so just trying to keep up the same energy. It’ll be good to have a couple of days off to just recharge and stay present.”
Surfer: Gabriel Medina
The agony of the elimination round. Fresh off a gold-medal performance at the ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico last week, Medina was unable to keep the momentum going in Portugal as he fell victim to a slow opening round heat and will now have to claw is way out of the elimination round.
Surfer: Cole Houshmand
Surfing in the first heat of the day, rookie Cole Houshmand had a lot riding on his result. After a steep learning curve in Hawaii, he's looking for a big outing in Portugal. “Every event has been a little bit of a step better so I’m stoked on winning that one,” Houshmand said. “First heat of the day is always tricky, you don’t know where the peak is or what the wave is going to do. I was a little bit disappointed on my performance but happy that I could grind it through. It’s a big change to be surfing against the best guys in the world, but at the end of the day you’re really surfing against yourself, and if you do your best surfing you’ll win most of the heats so that’s my goal.”
Supertubos, Peniche, Portugal
Conditions at Supertubos held together most of the day for the opening round until gale force winds shut things down in the afternoon. The contest has yet to resume since.
Surfer: Griffin Colapinto
Hit with an interference call in his opening round heat, like Medina, Colapinto is going to have to fight his way out of an elimination round heat in which he'll go up against fellow Californian Jake Marshall and Portuguese wildcard Joaquim Chaves.
Surfer: Kade Matson
Another of the California rookies to advance through the opening round, Matson was a little bit stoked on the result when he hit the beach. Keep an eye on Matson, Houshmand and the Colapinto boys if they click into rhythm, they could be a force.
Surfer: Imaikalani DeVault
Growing up on Maui, DeVault doesn't love wearing a wetsuit, but it certainly didn't slow him down. One of the most stylish and dynamic surfers on tour this year, he's taken his surfing to another level and the results are coming as he advanced alongside fellow surfer from Hawaii Barron Mamiya.
Surfer: Frederico Morais
Hometown hero Morais advanced out of the opening round much to the delight of the local fans.
"It was hard work, definitely not as easy as it looked,” Morais said. “There’s a lot of bumps but I was able to find two fun waves so I’m happy. I was looking for the cleaner sections and trying to find space for two big turns and got the score!”
Surfer: Crosby Colapinto
The Croz! Getting the job done in a high-powered heat with Jack Robinson, the younger Colapinto is quickly fitting right into the Championship Tour. The only California rookie currently above the mid-season cut line, he'll be sitting pretty if he can come out of Europe with a solid result.
World Title Race Heats Up, Big Names Tumble On Opening Day In Portugal
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.