Carissa Moore Surfs (Possible) Final Heat on Championship Tour at Pumping Teahupo'o
One of the best to ever do it, Carissa Moore, surfed what could possibly be her final heat on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour on Wednesday. In the quarterfinal round of the Tahiti Pro, the 5x world champ hailing from Hawaii went down to Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy. And following her retirement announcement earlier this year, peppered with a few wildcard appearances, could this be a farewell from Riss?
The heat, which was the first of the day with a building, much-anticipated swell in the water, started off slow. Hennessy drew first blood with a cautious drop, then straightened out. Negligible score. Then, Riss had her first dig; she fumbled on the drop, went down, and broke her board. Not a good start for either competitor. But then, something shifted. Both competitors shook off the nerves. Riss got one, Brisa got one, they both backed those up, and it was neck-and-neck until the hooter.
Ultimately, Riss locked in a pair of four-point-somethings. But that wasn’t enough to overtake Brisa’s high score of the heat, a 7.33, backed up by a pocket 5.33. As is often the case in waves of consequence, the bigger tubes garnered the bigger scores.
After the heat, Brisa reflected on the win: “It was an honor to share the lineup with Carissa,” she said. “She’s really inspired me on my barrel technique from watching her at waves like Cloudbreak, to Pipe and Backdoor, and out here at Teahupo’o.”
Related: Surf World Reacts to Carissa Moore's Retirement: 'Forever the Queen'
Back in January, Moore announced her retirement from the Championship Tour following wildcard appearances at the Lexus Pipe Pro, and the Shiseido Tahiti Pro. She’ll also be back at Teahupo’o for the Paris 2024 Games, where she’ll defend her gold medal from surfing’s inaugural Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020 2021.
In her retirement announcement, Moore explained her decision to step away from the jersey despite, arguably, still being at the top of her game:
Related: Carissa Moore Is Retiring at the Top of Her Game; Here’s Why.
“The last few years, it’s been harder to find the motivation to keep competing with the same intensity. I’m an all-in, driven by passion and purpose kind of girl so anything less than is a struggle. For a long time I thought winning was the definition of success. When you win, everyone is happy, everyone loves you, it puts a band aid on any internal struggles.
“Unfortunately, the reality is, the wins are fleeting and the feelings with it only temporary. I’m not gonna keep doing it for the empty win, there has to be more to it. How many more titles do I really need? Being at the top of my game, the external expectation is to keep going but my heart is telling me it’s time to pivot.”
See you in the Olympics this summer, Riss.
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