Jordy Smith and Ethan Ewing Are Making Pre-Event Predictions Feel Useless

Back when he was a wiry teenager at Sporting Lisbon, long before the supercars and statues with wildly disproportionate necks, Cristiano Ronaldo was already known among teammates for his monk-like discipline.

Coaches and peers confirmed he was the first to arrive and the last to leave, staying after training to work on dribbling and, especially, free kicks.

Rumors still swirl that he’d do push-ups and sit-ups in his academy room until the bunk creaked, swim laps without being asked just to bulk up, sprint up Lisbon hills with ankle weights strapped on, and religiously skip dessert while teammates inhaled chocolate mousse — a habit he supposedly maintains to this day.

As one former coach put it: “He trained like it was a Champions League final every day.”

The Final 5 is about as close as surfing gets to a Champions League final, and it looks like Jordy Smith and Ethan Ewing — sitting at #1 and #5 on the WSL rankings — are headed to Fiji for coronation.

While Jordy’s a shoo-in, Ethan has Griffin and Jack nipping at his heels. Clear favorites at this stop, their training for the upcoming event looks nothing like the excruciating, obsessive, borderline military regimen Ronaldo put himself through.

If you were watching these J-Bay pre-event sessions without knowing who was who, you’d still know they were the two best out there. No flailing, no hesitation, just that instinctive timing that can’t be taught.

They’re surfing like the contest has already happened, or like winning doesn’t even matter. Maybe surfing’s the only sport where preparation looks suspiciously like joy?