Sage Erickson, reo in Rio, Brazil

“The bathing suits have shrunk considerably since the last time these ladies were in bikinis at Snapper,” notices photog Ryan Miller with non-creepy tone despite sentiment. While today is blown-out and ugly, yesterday was bright and clear. And vibes in the water, especially from the gals, couldn’t have been more posi. “The girls on tour are pretty damn happy, but never do they seem happier than in Rio,” continues Miller. “This place was made for the women’s tour. Warm water, peaky, uncrowded beach breaks and tons of hot dudes. All I heard while swimming was, ‘Oh my, Miller, how beautiful is the water here?’, ‘This has got to be the best place ever’, and ‘Isn’t it just wonderful out here?’. They were so overly chipper I sometimes thought they were fucking with me.”

Sage Erickson, pictured here, was one of the very pleased ladies lighting up Barra Da Tijuca yesterday. Already a bastion of good vibes, it ain’t hard to imagine visible rays of thrill surrounding her through closeout belts like this. When the Colgate Plax Girls Rio Pro (Billabong ain’t sponsoring the event anymore) resumes, Sage’ll be up in heat two.

COLGATE PLAX GIRLS RIO PRO ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Lakey Peterson (USA), Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Rebecca Woods (AUS)
Heat 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Sage Erickson (USA)
Heat 3: Carissa Moore (HAW), Silvana Lima (BRA), TBD
Heat 4: Tyler Wright (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW), Phillipa Anderson (AUS)
Heat 5: Courtney Conlogue (USA), Laura Enever (AUS), Alize Arnaud (FRA)
Heat 6: Coco Ho (HAW), Alana Blanchard (HAW), Pauline Ado (FRA)