Caity Simmers & Yago Dora Crowned Top Chefs At The WSL’s Brazilian Barbeque

With a bit more south in the swell, daybreak revealed a well defined bank with clean, tapering lefts at Itaúna. Renato Hickel announced the start of competition in “incredible waves” and promised an “incredible day of action”.

In the booth, showing the energy of a man half his age before sunrise, Strider called out to the critics: “Who said there’s no lefts on tour? There are some sick lefts out there!”

The waves did look fun for what was to be the undeniable best day of the waiting period. However, wave selection played a crucial role in who would do well, giving the “best surfers in the best waves” adage a meaning that we may have been overlooking. 

Let’s unpack…

TLDR

• Yago Dora’s drops 10, claims maiden CT victory 
• RAGE team roster secures their first CT victor
• Caity Simmers fetches second event win in her rookie year
• Tyler Wright secures her Final 5 spot
• Yago and Caity move into the Top 5

Men’s Quarterfinals

While Samuel Pupo shook the sleep off his bones, Ryan Callinan wasted no time in attaining an early lead. By the time the wildcard tried to play catch-up, Ryan retorted with a steep top-to-bottom rail carve that projected him into another end section hammer for a solid 8 point ride, bringing him closer to the semis. 

Looking for a 7.01 to revert Callinan’s dominance, Pupo brought the first of several food analogies used in this event out of Strider: “The toast has popped up, the butter is on the bread, it’s all melted in, it’s ready to be eaten, let’s see if he can take a bite and get what he needs.” Unable to sing for his supper, young Sammy was deprived of his carbs by the Australian goofyfoot, who looked as if he was having fun with his surfing throughout the whole event, a formula that may well be worth betting on in coming events. 

We were momentarily taken down to meet Mitchell Salazar in the VIP area and learn about the free unlimited açaí provided by one of the sponsors (unless you’re a pleb). In the background, Leo Fioravanti was seen doing squats before his match-up against Ethan Ewing.

Joe invited Strider to estimate the number of people at the beach. He guessed 5,000 before amending to 2,000. This hyperbolic theme, along with food puns, would be a constant all day.

With the sun warming up the water’s surface, the lefts were looking increasingly cleaner. Ewing controlled his heat whilst avoiding the unnecessary exertion of energy — in case he’d have to make it all the way into the final. By now It doesn’t take a brilliant mind to tell that Ewing’s got a title in him.

The sole bearer of the wildcard flag, Jadson Andre paddled out for an-all brazilian, all-right-foot-forward clash. Dora’s approach was both elegant and powerful, which proved to be deadly for Jaddy, who looked a bit off and struggled to match his timing to that of the “undulating lip lines”. Dora took off on a beautiful left for a pressing slash/layback/end section layback combination, and Saquarema-hopped all the way to the inside for an extra bonus reverse in the shorebreak reform. The 8.5 ride combo’d Jadson and simultaneously lit a fire under him to get his best wave of the heat immediately after.

Yago moves on to the semis at Saquarema for another year.

John Florence chose to leave his Pyzel Red Tiger in his boardbag and opted for old faithful Ghost instead. Whether or not it’s related, his improved confidence and form were evident throughout the event. His first turn on his first wave was the kind that makes you want to go surfing, which in times when professional surfing is going through an existential crisis, is possibly the highest praise an event could garner.

Surfing against him was “Backdoor Barron”, who backdoored a left for an elusive barrel, readjusting his line with  a functional cutback and into an ok end section reentry on the end. The 7.17 score felt influenced by the crowd’s hooting reaction to the short cover up. Mamiya harnessed some momentum and was dominant for a bit until losing priority to John who only needed a 5.51 to advance.

While Rachel was talking up a surfing simulator that looked more like a flood water stream, John rode his best wave of the heat, an 8.93, its defining maneuver, a hook under a bowly lip to a precise redirect to meet the advancing foambal for a soft, seamless landing. John took back his lead which Barron almost stole with a smaller, cleaner wave under his priority: a great first turn, a good second turn, the third and the fourth came out a bit forced, just like his claim. Needing an 8.27 by curtain close, the judges gave him a close 8.17. John surfed like he’s preparing a finishing line comeback, which isn’t so far-fetched with South Africa and Tahiti on the horizon.

Women’s Semifinals

Tyler Wright and Caroline Marks, world number 2 and 3 respectively, go head to head. Caroline looked comfortable on the lefts but Tyler gets a high score for a string of mistimed turns. It’s not the first time she gets a little push in this event. Meanwhile, the conversation in the booth turns to churros because how long could you go without talking about food during the morning’s longest lull?

With 2 minutes on the clock, Marks went to work on a lengthy but wonky wave in her bid to take control of the heat. With an insufficient score, Tyler surfed another wave that would completely obliterate any prospects Caroline had of advancing. Tyler’s wasn’t an impressive performance, but the win was ultimately deserved, as was her guaranteed spot in the Final 5.

Carissa Moore vs Caity ‘Idk’ Simmers turned out to be a slow and uneventful affair, but the air was quickly filled with Maíra trying to climb a wall in the “activation area”. Once again, Joe asks the booth for a crowd guesstimate, “We’re past 10,000, aren’t we? It might get close to 20,000!” We were up to 30,000 by Strider’s count.

In the water, Simmers interrupts the nonsense with a graceful string of solid turns on her backhand for a 7.5 and the lead. Later in the heat, an exciting exchange saw Caity taking off into a grab-rail bottom turn for a solid reentry on a pitching closeout section, followed by Carissa’s huge carving, fin-releasing, incomplete turn in the wave behind. 

Twice in her post-heat presser, Caity couldn’t hide the desire to go back home: “I’m really thankful to be here and just be with my dad and my coach. I’m excited to go home too though… tonight.”

Men’s Semifinals

In a “State Of The Origin” style clash, this year’s Bells Beach finalists meet for the first semi.

Kaipo estimates 40,000 people are occupying the event site and speaks like a conquistador: “We set up a city by the beach!”  Spoken like a conquistador.

The incoming tide and easing swell bring a bit more backwash to the lineup, which ends up affecting both Ethan’s and Ryan’s ending turns but not the scores. Ethan’s 7.5 and 8 point rides felt a bit overcooked. Ethan was stronger and took another win for Queensland, even though he acknowledged his uncharacteristic mistakes in this post-heat interview.

Before Florence and Dora paddle out, Kaipo exclaims: “I think we’re hitting about 50,000 at this time!” The wind was coming in from the west, ruffling up the water surface and creating some potential air ramps on the rights, which hadn’t been surfed this far into the day.

Yago moved first, getting a  4.5. John responded with a good first turn on a wave but got stuck in on his second foray into the lip, costing him a potentially good score. The crowd celebrates his shortcoming and he gets a 4 for the incomplete ride. Looking a bit out of sync, John went looking for rights that didn’t materialize, while Yago raised decibels on the beach with a powerful opening turn on a tapering wave that eventually flattened out but still gave him a 6 point ride and some extra distance from John.

Mitch interrupts: “55,000, maybe 60,000 already?”. He’s surely trolling.

Yago looks deadly going into a wind-blown right and boosts a backside corked-out rotation,  landing in the whitewash. Can he complete it? The camera pans to the crowd on the beach. Inspecting the replay minutes later, we find out he didn’t. 

A lot of cheers are audible during another break advertising the event we’re trying to watch.  

In the water, John, holding priority, patiently waits for a wave with scoring potential. Yago is able to sell him a lemon, and there’s hardly anything he can do on it. The crowd loves it, and Yago makes his first final since joining the tour. 

Women’s Final

A finalist at El Salvador, Rio sees Tyler Wright’s fourth final this season. For Simmers it’s her second, in her rookie year, no less. 

Scraping into a wonky wall of water, Simmers proved to be immune to backwash. She weaved dry through raindrops and linked turns with speed and consistency en route to the final section where she matched her speed with that of the lip for an immaculate lip-line floater, sealing Tyler’s fate with the first wave of the heat, an 8.33. “She puts her board in different places!” That’s what one does to win events, Joe.

Caity’s wave choice, ability and tactical savvy left Tyler under combination for most of the heat. 

Probably still hungry, Strider offered: “Caitlin Simmers, opening up the Simmers sauce restaurant, preparing a combination plate for Tyler Wright!”

Tyler was able to break out of the combination with a 5.5 but was still left needing a 9.16 to steal the victory from Caity, who guarded and used her priority in the dying moments of the heat. The Oceanside teenager now holds a heat-winning percentage of 100% in CT finals and moves to fifth place in the leaderboard.

Men’s Final

Aside from the atmosphere on the beach, the men’s final was off to an anticlimactic start. The high tide didn’t aid wave quality and scoring opportunities were seldom. Ewing got as busy as possible on the lefts, riding a total of 14 waves in the heat and taking an early lead. On a right, Dora served the Australian with the same type of backhand turn Ethan had resorted to on the backwashy lefts, but Dora’s were more vertical and with more release. A solid effort that he was unable to give continuity to, as the wave died into a gully. However, the 4.83 was enough for a lead chase.

Joe’s “We’ll be right back!” is met with the loudest cheer of the day. On screen, we see the camera angle that points away from the stretch where the final is taking place. During the “break” Yago took off on a closeout and, without pumping, went up and above the lip for a massive full rotation into the flats, punctuated with a clean and composed landing. The single maneuver earned him a 10 point ride (1 of 2 this entire season), and some camping gear. 

Attempting to break the combination he was put under, Ethan got a 6 for a lofty tail-throw reverse. Looking for an 8.84 with 2 minutes on the clock and under Yago’s priority, he stood up on the undulatingest wave of the final for a last, yet unfruitful attempt to switch up the scoreboard.

With the win, Yago heads to South Africa occupying the 5th spot on the ranking. It’s worth noting he finished 3rd there last year before getting a 5th place finish in Tahiti.

Come-ups 

• Peak performance: Yago Dora and Caity Simmers, Men’s and Women’s Final
• Hit replay: John Florence (15.43) vs. Barron Mamiya (15.34) Men’s Quarterfinals, Heat 4
• One-liners: “I wanna feel like I win when I win.” — Caity Simmers 

Even though it wasn’t what most have been salivating for, the surf looked inviting on today’s quintessential Carioca beach day. Wave selection and the ability to adapt to the conditions should definitely remain one of the parts that make up a world title contender.

Let-downs

• Caught behind: John Florence (6.5), Men’s Semifinals, Heat 2
• Blind mice:, Ethan Ewing’s 8 point ride, Semifinals, Heat 1

Strider: “I think we cooked those numbers, they’re done, we’ve put them in the oven, and we’re gonna start putting some more in there. I feel like there’s at least 30,000 cookies on the beach.”

Joe: “And we’re always so hungry!”

— Strider and Joe’s insights into the WSL’s sponsorship raising strategy 

So much was available at the village that was built for this contest site: VIP lounges, bars, games, climbing walls, ziplines, static waves, “activation zones”, etc. The Brazilian Air Force even choreographed a demonstration over the sand at Itaúna! There was just so much on offer, except a good wave out front. 

The habit of pushing audience numbers isn’t unfamiliar to fans but was taken to new highs during this event, so much so that it became self-satirical. Thanks for the laughs!
Oh, and someone please feed those commentators, they’ve earned their churrasco!

Gamble Ramble

It’s a very good day to be Mikey C.

Men’s QF

$50 on Sammy Pupo at +100 to win $43 LOST
$50 on Leo Fioravanti at +200 to win $100 LOST
$20 on Barron Mamiya at +275 to win $55 LOST

Women’s SF
$50 on Caroline Marks at +100 to win $50 LOST
$30 on Caity Simmers at +200 to win $60 WON

Event winners
$40 on Yago Dora at +3300 to win $1320 WON
$20 on Samuel Pupo at +5000 to win $1000 LOST
$50 on Caity Simmers at +1200 to win $600 WON

Day 3 earnings: 1,840
Event earnings: $1,928

2023 Season 

Pipe earnings: $898
Sunset earnings: $1465
Portugal earnings: $330
Bells earnings: $2
Margs: $151
Lemoore: -$215
El Salvador: $660
Brazil: $1,928
Season earnings: $5,219

Ladder Watch