Jesse Mendes Is More A Than A Third Round Clown

Jesse Mendes finished 28th on last year’s Championship Tour, passing the third round no more than twice across eleven total events. 

A poor showing by conventional standards, but he did have one memorable performance. 

In the first heat of the third round of the Corona Pro Bali, staring into the Keramas morning glare, Jesse took off a clean, chest-high wall, needing a low-5 to surpass the 2x reigning World Champion John John Florence. Rather than putting a few turns off the lip like he’d done throughout the heat, Jesse winded up off the bottom and exploded into the sky, rotating acrobatically off-axis and landing, somehow, back on top of his board before recovering in the whitewash. 

The judges deemed it a 7.17 and worthy of the heat win. 

John took the loss hard, electing to wander down the beach for a post-loss surf where he would eventually destroy his knee on an aerial attempt. He’s still not back to 100%.

On the flip side, we figured this victory would alter Jesse’s dismal trajectory, inspiring him to release the beast for the remainder of the season and assert his status amongst the world’s top surfers.

Air at 5:56

Alas, no.

A talented yet conservative surfer by nature, Jesse opted to perform the same smooth carves, controlled fin-drifts and spray snaps that make QS judges swoon but fail to connect with Pritamo’s crew of CT cynics.

“Maybe they just don’t like my surfing,” Jesse quipped after one especially close loss in 2019. 

But it seems the Brazilian is learning.

In the video above, Jesse picks apart his weakness with a fine-toothed comb, attempting to rid himself, wave by wave, of the dreaded “QS Syndrome”.    

It’s an effort we must stand up and applaud. Onto 2019!