Carlos Muñoz To Miss Sunset & Portugal

Carloz Munoz has been trying to qualify for the CT since 2009. 

Last season he finally made the crack, after 13 years grinding it out on the QS and CS. Mr. Muñoz was sitting at the beach in Costa Rica when he got invited to compete in the Olympics. After Frederico Morais tested positive for COVID-19, Muñoz was the one to fill the vacant spot. Unfortunately, Muñoz didn’t make it in time despite our best efforts to #letcarlossurf, he arrived on the ground in Japan just a few hours after the horn blew. 

Carlos shook the disappointment of missing out on an Olympic start by going on to post two fifth-place finishes in France and Portugal WSL events, earning just enough points to pip Jordy Lawler for 15th spot in the CS qualifiers and make the CT. In his rookie event at Pipe this past week, we saw Carlos, freshly-inked with a six-figure deal with Au Fins, make a statement at the Banzai, getting the nod over Jadson Andre, Deivid Silva and Frederico Morais, qualifying for a match up with fellow rookie Lucca Mesinas in the Round of 16.  

But all his winning incurred a major loss.

Quoting Mikey C’s Day 2 Recap:  

“After falling on an end-section turn at Backdoor, Carlos was sucked over the falls and slammed onto a rock. He said his arm felt sore, but he could still paddle. A few minutes later, Carlos paddled in the way that you only paddle for a large Pipe set — at 120%. This revealed the true extent of the injury, as a shooting pain coursed through his shoulder, forcing him to pull back. Carlos then hailed the safety ski for help, and apparently while getting onto the sled, his shoulder became properly dislocated. Carlos still won the heat, but it didn’t bode well for the rest of his event.”

Despite his (and Slater’s) best efforts, Carlos was unable to surf his Round of 16 heat against Lucca Mesinas.

He recently announced he was pulling out of Sunset and Portugal as well.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carlos Munoz (@munozcali)

On IG Carlos says:

“Very first WCT at pipeline. Made it to the top 10. It’s been a long journey to see my name in that list, thanks to Yahweh and all the support of my sponsor and people on the way. Will get surgery next week in California. I will pull out of the Sunset and Portugal event’s. I put the hope in God to this process I still don’t know exactly when will come back but Pura vida all the way.”

Currently Yago Dora, Liam O’Brien, Ryan Callinan, Carlos Munoz are injured. The WSL has not issued a statement on who will be taking the WC spots at Sunset.

We wish Carlos a speedy recovery.