Report: Joao Chianca Is Not Here To F*ck Spiders

Joao Chianca went huge at Pipe this season. In his first CT heat ever he drew John, in his backyard, and nearly pipped him with a psycho no-grab backside tube ride that he threaded from deep reminiscent of Bruce Irons. “He’s a supreme tuberider,” warned Leandro Dora ahead of the contest. “And he charges too, so he’s got a good chance at places like Pipe, Chopes, and The Box, for example. If he can keep his cool and surf the way he usually surfs, he’ll surprise a lot of people.”

Chumbinho’s style is refreshingly unpredictable and raw — beautiful to watch in waves of power. “His surfing has a poetic savagery, a là Chris Davidson or Dane Reynolds,” explains Julio Adler, former pro and one of Brazil’s surf media greats. In his round 3 heat, Joao took down Jack Robbo, a fellow Stone rider whose name also belongs in the conversation for one of the best at Banzai. 

Joao’s win saw him advance into the round of 16 and meet up again with none other than… John Florence again. Joao fetched a 16.74 heat total to John’s 17.77 and subsequently fell out of the mix, but not before dropping a 9.87 for one of the best waves of the event – A screaming late drop to butt drag to hands-free stand-up cathedral that blew him into the channel right in front of the 2x World Champ. Joao would’ve won any other heat in that round bar Kelly’s last second GOAT magic he pulled in his heat against Barron Mamiya. 

Joao currently finds himself in #23, three spots outside the mid-year cutoff. Bells and Chumbo don’t scream a match made in heaven, but Chumbinho at the Box or North Point? Ooft. There could be sparks. Let’s hope he can scrape it over the mid-season line for some tube piggery at G-land and Teahupoo.

This clip is a collection of Joao out the front of the Volcom house during his time on the rock. “We tried to do it as raw as possible. Good surfing, no slow mo and old school rap on the tracks,” says filmmaker Bruno Zanin. To which we responded ‘Oath. Good recipe.’