There was so much water sucking off the reef that many waves seemed simply unrideable.
Remember this day. July 29th, 2024. This day will be talked about for years to come. Following two days of decent Teahupo’o for surfing in the Paris 2024 Olympics, Day Three provided with proper, nearly maxing-out, certifiably scary swell unloading on the reef. Your grandkids will wonder: “Where were you when Chopes went absolutely bonkers?”
There was a lot of uncertainty when the day began. Whereas the days prior, when the event was 100-percent confirmed to run, there was no firm word on whether the contest was on or off. But then, as the sun trickled its way through the prehistoric-looking Teahupo’o mountain range, and the first glimpses at the waves were locked in, it was clear. It was on. It was pumping. It was about as good as Teahupo’o gets, for that size, and it was going to be an historic day.
Well, half day. With an incoming storm, only the men’s Round Three was completed before an all-out monsoon whipped through the lineup, and the competition was called off for the day. But damn, was it a memorable couple hours of competitive surfing. Once again, remember this.
To help sear this historic day in the recesses of the brain, here’s a full gallery of the action.
[All photos and captions courtesy of Ryan “Chachi” Craig]
Going into day 3 there was a lot of uncertainty about the weather. At 6am the sky was clear, though, as we motored from the marina to the lineup.
Peru’s Alonso Correa is no stranger to heavy lefts and was amping to surf in the first heat of the day and kick off day 3 in barreling 6-8ft Teahupo’o.
The first ‘real’ big set of the morning came in heat 2 and had the entire lineup of boats screaming. Team Japan’s Reo Inaba was up for the challenge though - he bottom turned into this west bowl monster before it raced off down the line without him.
Alonso navigated his way through a few barrels to secure a heat win against Jordy Smith.
For his troubles, Reo broke his board but not his confidence and secured a win in heat 2.
Filipe Toldeo looking a bit dejected realizing his dreams of Olympic gold were over.
There’s a 6-minute break in between every heat which seems to always coincide with a set over these past 3 days. Today was no exception and this bomb was about 15 seconds too early for Kauli Vaast or Griffin Colapinto to be able to have a crack. All they could do was watch.
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
To the cheers of the crowd, local boy Kauli Vaast threads a beautiful tube on his way to victory in heat 3 of the morning.
Kauli Vaast receives an embrace from his father after beating Griffin Colapinto in heavy surf.
Mexico’s Alan Cleland Jr didn’t advance out of his heat but had multiple heavy tubes, just coming up shy against Joan Duru.
Caddy/coach extraordinaire’s Bede Durbidge and Matt Bemrose there to support Team Australia’s Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson, both of whom advanced today.
Gabriel Media ejects out the back of his 9.90 with one of the coolest claims I’ve seen in a while. The photographer boat was out of position to shoot the tube itself but after watching the replay from the judging tower, that wave was a clear 10 In my opinion and easily the best wave ridden in Olympic history.
Photo: Ryan "Chachi" Craig
Jo?o Chianca grateful for an amazing tube.
The energy of the swell today was pretty crazy. There were lots of unmade waves and the water patrol had their hands full trying to get the competitors out of harm's way as quick as possible.
Jo?o locks in to an absolute gem.
The whole ocean seemed to suck up on the sets - Ramzi Boukhiam sets up the dream wall.
The most consistent window of the morning was from about 8-10:30am. They probably could have ran overlapping heats if they wanted but as a photographer, I loved the amount of empty wave shots I was able to take. Here’s Jack Robinson taking it all in.
All the training that Jack does is coming into play while he’s going through the Teahupo’o spin cycle this morning.
Although John John Florence didn’t do enough to beat Jack today, he did find a few killer tubes.
Jack channeling his inner AI (Andy Irons) with the perfect backhand technique at Teahupo’o.
At one point in the morning the live cam operator got caught inside and lost the camera in the process. Thankfully he was alright and somehow the camera survived as well.
Miss Tahiti and friends enjoying the show.
Connor O’Leary hucks himself over the ledge in the last heat of the round.
The predicted onshore winds finally started to show up during the last heat of the men’s competition around 11am. The already dangerous and intimidating conditions became even more intense. The comp was called off for the day which was a great decision. The wind only intensified the following few hours and will likely hang around for the next 3-4 days. Time will tell.
