In Rio There Are No Favourites
Yellow jerseys fall, world champs bow out, and rookies continue their charge toward Finals Day.
As the sun rose, Itaúna was being described as “one of the most consistent waves on the planet” by someone in the broadcast crew.
The size had dropped considerably after the swell peaked the day before. Forecasted to taper throughout the day, competition was called on just as Morgan Cibilic was coming in from his early morning paddle.
“It’s a lot more put together,” he said, just as the two remaining heats of Women’s Round 1 made their way toward the point.
Bella Kenworthy and wildcard Tatiana Weston-Webb eliminated Bettylou Sakura Johnson and Tyler Wright, respectively, in two rather slow, overlapping heats. Tati’s 7.33 on a clean left would have constituted the only moment worth replaying from that round.
However, there was plenty worth revisiting before the day was through. By day’s end, the women’s rankings remained populated by three women raised in the Hawaiian archipelago and the men’s by half a dozen Brazilians.
Here’s what happened…
TL;DR
- Rankings leaders out of Finals Day
- Olympic Gold Medalist eliminated by Olympic Gold Medalist
- Yellow jerseys might change backs after Rio
- Top 3 Women in the world out of competition
Women’s Round 2 (or: How Hawaiians Came To Rule The Roost)
Erin Brooks and Carissa Moore brought the first clash of note of the day, with successive lead changes throughout the heat. Erin didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by the five-time world champ. Though her wave selection seemed inferior today, she attacked sections with confidence and showed great timing and rhythm every time she stood up.
Carissa’s 7.83 to win the heat was blatantly overscored, but she still came out a deserving winner and will be making her third consecutive Finals Day appearance.
With their heats overlapping, the similarities between Carissa and Tya Zebrowski on the lefts were impossible to ignore. In CS style conditions, Tya put together what was probably her best heat of the season to defeat CT veteran Lakey Peterson and meet up with none other than Carissa Moore in the quarters.
Just like Tya, Nadia Erostarbe’s muscle memory from her time on the CS kicked in to bar Molly Picklum from accessing Finals Day for the first time this season. In the dying seconds, she used priority to block Molly from an attempt at the 2.73 she needed to advance. Another fallen world champion in two days of competition.
Former Ladybirds Caity Simmers and Bella Kenworthy produced one of the most exciting and tight exchanges of the morning. Not to take anything away from the other surfers, but the first time I truly felt like paddling for a wave was after watching Caity seamlessly link her carves together without resorting to a single pump. Some contests make it easy to forget how fun surfing actually is. Caity’s surfing was superior overall, but her winning wave, like Carissa’s in the same round, was a little juiced by the same five guys.
It’s a given that Gabriela Bryan is a threat on open faced rights. Today, she confirmed how dangerous she can be with her back against the wall in underwhelming conditions, putting Sally Fitz in a situation where she needed north of 17 points to break out of a combination.
A serious title battle between Gabriela and Carissa is now brewing — Gabby currently holds a 1,575 point advantage over her fellow Hawaiian.
Caroline Marks put an end to Tati’s wildcard run in the all-goof heat. Tati and Johanne Defay will receive maternity wildcards for the CT in 2027.
Isabella Nichols redeemed herself by looking far more comfortable going left than she did yesterday, but this time, she was left to her own devices by the local flightless semi-aquatic seabirds that guided her toward a heat winning wave on Day 1. Luana Silva continues the best run of her career after taking out Bella and extending her advantage over Molly Picklum while sitting 3rd in the rankings.
While technically surfing for Brazil, Luana grew up at Sunset Beach and at the end of the round was only 1,655 points behind Carissa Moore, and 3,230 from rankings leader Gabriela Bryan.
Sawyer Lindblad dominated her heat against Brisa Hennessy, and once again, returns to Finals Day after missing out at El Salvador.
Men’s Round 3 (or Is This The Challenger Series?)
With a packed first day of competition, Kaipo and Mitch can be forgiven for not getting beyond Marcus Aurelius and Sun Tzu today. Chris Cote filled that space with some Phil Lynott poetic wisdom: “And if the boys want to fight, you better let ’em.”
And fight they did.
Samuel Pupo surfed aggressively enough to inch closer to the Brazilian-dominated Top 5 zone while simultaneously dimming Jack Robinson’s world title hopes. A 9th place finish remains Jack’s best result this season, one he’s now achieved five consecutive times, this event included.
Leo, we’re told by Cote, is unanimously considered one of the fiercest, scrappiest dogs on tour. That was evident in his paddle battles for position against Liam O’Brien, who may well have the most pleasing style on the men’s draw. The Caity Simmers of the boys, perhaps? Leo comboed his opponent with authority, extending the best run of his career and holding on to the second-place ranking that Gabriel Medina let slip away with his early exit.
During the overlapping heats of Cibilic vs McGillivray and Pittar vs João Chianca, the grittiness across the board made this feel like a Challenger Series specialty event. It can’t be a coincidence that past CS winners and recent graduates from the second division are making inroads here, at a venue they got accustomed to on their way to the CT, while toppling world champions and top seeds.
Morgs ended Matt McGillivray’s wildcard run, and Pittar almost kicked João Chianca out of the event. But with a few minutes to go, João found a bowly, rippable right that he surfed perfectly to get the score he needed to the loudest cheers from the beach all day. He later said it was “wave by wave,” and that always believing he could turn the heat was his approach. The right he surfed into the channel is his favourite wave at Itaúna, he added, standing in front of the sticker-plastered glass pane on the sand.
If Italo’s freesurfing is anything to go by, he has a repertoire of airs far deeper than anything he attempts in competition, yet still insists on doing what, in 2026, are relatively standard frontside or backside rotations. Today, the judges didn’t seem to encourage it as much as they have in the past. No generous scores for stock revs.
Riding a very similar 6’0″ to the one he rode to victory here in 2024, Italo scrambled to turn the heat, but his wave selection wasn’t a match for Kauli Vaast’s, who found Hossegor on the lefts and imposed his dominance with surefooted, searing open face carves to eliminate a fellow Olympic gold medalist and reach the quarters for the third time this season.
Another world champ (and current rankings leader) bows out.
The overlapping format made the contrast between Italo’s approach and Ethan Ewing’s even more obvious. One is more pleasing to the eye than the other, and sometimes you wonder whether style, maybe described as something else, shouldn’t be part of the judging criteria again.
Ethan found longer, cleaner lefts and was unforgiving in his approach, while his opponent Kanoa Igarashi lost the backwash lottery and was left with slightly fatter waves and less scoring potential. Ethan advances.
Marco Mignot arrogantly told the crowd and drummers on the beach to shush following his initial response to Yago Dora’s early lead. Yago, the only Brazilian world champ left in the competition, proceeded to put Marco where he belongs — not Finals Day.
Miggy Pupo followed suit and, like his countryman, found the better lefts and didn’t let a section go to waste. Miggy, at 34, is arguably surfing his best ever in competition. Callum Robson tried to get the heat back by doing what he did against Toledo yesterday, but needing an excellent score, his Hail Mary attempt didn’t register more than a 6.47.
Women’s Quarterfinals (or: Rookies Take Out World Champs)
Tya Zebrowski wasn’t shy of drawing first blood with a mid-range score against her elder Carissa Moore, which she followed up with a single turn for a 6.33 before Riss had even paddled for a wave.
The countdown timer hit 15:00 and the five time world champ was yet to paddle for a wave. Carissa rode only two waves the entire heat, and her passivity left Tya with enough space to put two sixes on the board and take out another world champion (after Steph) with relative ease.
Caity Simmers and Nadia Erostarbe didn’t waste any time before their first exchange, where Nadia came out on top.
At the pointy end of the day, the stoic philosophy of Kaipo, speaking on behalf of Marcus Aurelius, finally arrived: “Dwell on the beauty of life.” As we should, Kaips.
Another exchange. Caity improved, but Nadia got the better wave and surpassed her again with an excellent score, which she then backed up with a 7.50, and Caity was left needing a 9 that never came.
Two world champs gone in two heats.
On the dying seconds of a heat close in scores but clearly dominated by Caroline Marks, Gabriela Bryan had a solid chance while holding priority. A set wave approached, Gabriela paddled into it, almost got to her feet and pearled. A bizarre slip from a surfer wearing yellow.
With #1 and #2 eliminated, stakes were high for the last quarterfinal of the day. Luana Silva could head into the Pacific leg of the tour wearing yellow, and Sawyer Lindblad could also climb a couple of spots in the leaderboard.
When the final hooter went off, Sawyer had put an end to Luana’s momentum, and the world #3 lost a very good chance of climbing up the rankings at a venue that suits her more than those located in the South Pacific.
Come Ups
Peak performance: Gabriela Bryan (17.33), Heat 5, Women’s Round 2
Hit replay: Leonardo Fioravanti (16.50) vs Liam O’Brien (13.33), Heat 2, Men’s Round 3
Monster maneuver: Nadia Erostarbe’s 8.33 against Caity Simmers
One-liner: “Hopefully she still likes me after that.” — Caity Simmers feeling remorse after eliminating her roommate Bella Kenworthy.
Let Downs
Caught behind: Jack Robinson’s inability to reach a double digit heat total.
Blind mice: Carissa’s 7.83 against Erin Brooks and Caity’s 7.93 against Bella Kenworthy in Round 2
Say what?: “Doing your dishes is hard enough, imagine trying to surf.” — a Freudian slip from recent parent Jesse Mendes?
Gamble Ramble presented by betonline.ag
Day 2 Results
VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Round One (Heats 7-8) Results
HEAT 7: Bella Kenworthy (USA) 10.10 DEF. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 8.93
HEAT 8: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 11.00 DEF. Tyler Wright (AUS) 10.46
VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Round Two Results
HEAT 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.50 DEF. Erin Brooks (CAN) 13.30
HEAT 2: Tya Zebrowski (FRA) 14.33 DEF. Lakey Peterson (USA) 11.03
HEAT 3: Nadia Erostarbe (ESP) 8.40 DEF. Molly Picklum (AUS) 7.67
HEAT 4: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 15.10 DEF. Bella Kenworthy (USA) 13.60
HEAT 5: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 17.33 DEF. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.26
HEAT 6: Caroline Marks (USA) 14.00 DEF. Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 13.00
HEAT 7: Luana Silva (BRA) 12.47 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 12.20
HEAT 8: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 14.03 DEF. Brisa Hennessy (CRC) 9.67
VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Quarterfinal Results
HEAT 1: Tya Zebrowski (FRA) 12.70 DEF. Carissa Moore (HAW) 7.77
HEAT 2: Nadia Erostarbe (ESP) 15.83 DEF. Caitlin Simmers (USA) 12.23
HEAT 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 13.04 DEF. Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 11.90
HEAT 4: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 12.86 DEF. Luana Silva (BRA) 12.26
VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona Cero Men’s Round Three Results
HEAT 1: Samuel Pupo (BRA) 15.84 DEF Jack Robinson (AUS) 9.94
HEAT 2: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 16.50 DEF Liam O’Brien (AUS) 13.33
HEAT 3: Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 13.40 DEF Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 11.50
HEAT 4: Joao Chianca (BRA) 14.30 DEF George Pittar (AUS) 13.26
HEAT 5: Kauli Vaast (FRA) 14.17 DEF Italo Ferreira (BRA) 12.87
HEAT 6: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.33 DEF Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 12.27
HEAT 7: Yago Dora (BRA) 15.00 DEF Marco Mignot (FRA) 10.33
HEAT 8: Michael Pupo (BRA) 14.03 DEF Callum Robson (AUS) 12.17
Upcoming
VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Semifinal Matchups
HEAT 1: Tya Zebrowski (FRA) vs. Nadia Erostarbe (ESP)
HEAT 2: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Sawyer Lindblad (USA)
VIVO Rio Pro Presented by Corona Cero Men’s Quarterfinal Matchups
HEAT 1: Samuel Pupo (BRA) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
HEAT 2: Morgan Cibilic (AUS) vs. Joao Chianca (BRA)
HEAT 3: Kauli Vaast (FRA) vs. Ethan Ewing (AUS)
HEAT 4: Yago Dora (BRA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
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