Kelly Slater and Adriano shine at the Oi Rio Pro: Round one wrap

All photos courtesy of WSL Round one of the Oi Rio Pro is dusted. As expected, it was a mixed affair of tubes, turns, and spins above lip. The early morning heats saw draining tubs, with Kelly Slater taking fullest advantage, dropping a 9.5 and 9.77 for the highest heat total of the round. Despite training camps with Pat O, John John Florence went down to Wiggolly Dantas (who actually ditched his board at one point). John John snagged a clean frontside tube-to-spinner right after the buzzer that surely would’ve turned the heat. But, so it goes! Other notables include Italo taking down White Lightning, and Matty Banting taking down Jules and Miggy. Through heat 10, each heat with a Brazilian surfer was won by said Brazilian surfer, a streak broken only by Miggy Pupo in heat 11; the hometown support on the beach apparently more motivating than pressure cooking. Part of said Brazilian takeover, Filipe’s performance against Brother Andino was immense, dropping a 9.7 for an impressive backside rotator. But, after 12 heats of action, the hands-down highlight would be Dave “The Human Factoid” Stansfield. He’s back in the booth, with miss-info, bizarre questions, and tongue-ties aplenty! Oh Dave, never change!