Notes From the Line-Up – Rio

As the picture above implies, the tour is no longer being held at heaving West-Australian reef breaks. Our new destination – Grumari, Brazil – brings with it a new set of conditions and a fresh slate for surfers to prove themselves. We spoke to the founder of Fantasy Surfing Tips and Brazilian local Francisco Pimentel (in his ‘secondary’ language of English) about who’s been standing out and all things Brazil going into event 4, here’s his wrap:

Surf-Stats: Tell us a little about yourself

Hi everyone, my name is Francisco Pimentel. I’m a computer scientist from Recife and I have surf is my passion sport to practice and watch. I also enjoy very much getting surfers data online and creating computer programs to predict surfers’ scores during WSL events.

SS: There has been a lot of hype about the change of venue and the consequences of moving to Grumari, what are your thoughts on the new venue?

FP: Personally, I like very much the new venue. Grumari is an environmentally protected area (área de preservação ambiental), so it’s full of natural beauty. For sure everyone visiting and surfing at Grumari will be amazed by its beautiful landscapes. The access to the area is also restricted, we will see a whole different scenario compared to last year’s event, and I’m guessing a much smaller crowd. The waves at Grumari are bigger than “Postinho” and not as hollow. The waves also show a lot more open faces and the rides are a little bit longer. For sure we will see the competitors perfecting great maneuvers here.

SS: Have many of the tour surfers been warming up at the event site? Who are the stand-outs?

FP: At the moment not a lot of surfers are here warming up, most of them are getting here by the weekend. Alejo Muniz is living in Rio since 2014, so he is already on site and training for the event. The stand out for me is John John Florence, he is training very hard here and I like the focus he has this year, he hasn’t surfed bad in any heat so far. The new heat draw has also matched JJF against Caio Ibelli in round one. This rematch will be awesome and I can’t wait to see this heat.

SS: What do you think about Parko and Kai pulling out? Do Brazilians see it as being disrespectful?

FP: Well, I do not see it as disrespectful and I believe most Brazilians also don’t. For sure we are facing a lot of problems right now in our country from politics to diseases. But when you talk about sport, people here just love watching and cheering, and surf right now is just growing really fast in Brazil. When you talk about receiving people from abroad, Brazilians do their best to ensure people have the best stay here and for sure there will be a lot of support from Brazilian crowd.

SS: There have been some amazing performances from Brazilians lately, is there one particular Brazilian surfer that has the most support from fans?

That is true, Brazilians have had amazing performances over the last years and that is just great for our country. We have such a huge coast and it is just amazing to see how many people are going to the beaches to surf, that is really great for the sport. Personally, I think that the top surfer for Brazilians is definitely Gabriel Medina, people love him here. That first Brazilian world title means a lot for us. ADS got lots of fans after the last year’s winning and because of his spirit. Felipe Toledo is also in a great hype after the final against Bede Durbidge last year, in Postinho. We could all see how crazy the crowd was in the beach.

SS: Who will you be supporting?

FP: Personally I will be supporting Italo Ferreira. I really like the commitment he has in his heats, besides he comes from North-East Brazil, same region as me. It is just great to see a “Nordestino” rocking in WCT!

SS: Do you have anything else to add?

FP: I hope surf continues to grow here in Brazil. It is just amazing the experience that we Brazilians are facing nowadays in surf. I can’t wait to watch the event in Rio and I’m cheering to see Wilko against Italo in the Final. Finally, I really would love to see an official WSL event being held in my state, Pernambuco, specifically in the island of Fernando de Noronha. Would be great to have an event at the Brazilian Hawaii 🙂

So there you have it.

If you haven’t already, check out the sortable conditions / data tables for Brazil and get busy selecting your team.