Surfers, bodyboarders and bodysurfers charge the biggest swell of the 2019 season at the Wedge. Riders going for it include Chris Ward, Johnny Weber, Tanner McDaniel, Kalani Robb, Craig Whetter, Tristan Ray, Chris Taloa, Seal Dog, Tommy Cantrell, Brandon Clark, Kanoa Igarashi and more! All footage filmed on the morning of 5/14/19.
Hurricane Dorian swell in New Jersey on September 7th, 2019 with Rob Kelly, Andrew Gesler, Connor Willem, Tommy Ihken, and Owen Moss. Before moving out to sea and sending perfect surf to New Jersey, Hurricane Dorian slammed the island of the Bahamas as a Category 5 and left tens of thousands of residents homeless. You can visit wavesforwater.org and help with the 'Bahamas Hurricane Disaster Response" program!
Filmed and edited by Ryan Simalchik
Additional footage by Chris Boice
Surfing is a super fun part of my life. Don’t know how to explain it but it’s just such a fucking beautiful thing.
From being inspired by Asher, Steph, Rob, Parko, Craig, Creed, Tom Curren and people who never look like they’re fighting the wave to also seeing the joy surfing gives most people... kids starting out, old people just floating around with a smile.
There are no airs in it cause if people wanna watch airs it’s not going to be me it’s going to be the best guys like Ryan, Jon, Chippa, Taj all those crazy good surfers or kids and younger guys like Noah, Eli, Shane and Cole. Maybe in another clip or maybe not.
Special thanks to Nathan Webster and James Kates... the friendship, laughs, filming, editing, encouragement and everything else. Thanks to all the Indo locals for sharing the waves everywhere we went. Big thanks to Pat Tenore and the RVCA crew for supporting all types of surfing and creativity.
Title is a sick Patti Smith song called Dancing Barefoot
Hope people dig it
Oscar
P.S Oh and the claims on one wave haha... I just got bit over excited.
Miyazaki, Japan, September 15, 2019 - With a total of three medals across the Men's and Women's Division, Team Brazil emerged victorious at the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games presented by Vans in Miyazaki, Japan.
Brazil's Italo Ferreira saved his best for last and earned the highest heat total of the event thus far (17.77) with a perfect 10-point ride in the Final.
Ferreira's inspirational finish was a fairy tale ending to a week of adversity. Ferreira nearly missed his first heat of the event after getting his passport stolen only days before leaving for Japan. Ferreira was able to get a passport, fly to Miyazaki, and make it to his first heat of the event with only 8-minutes remaining, where he was still able to take first place.
"That was a super cool contest," said Ferreira. "I want to congratulate every surfer and country here.
"I am so tired, that was a lot of heats with a lot of emotional moments. I just tried to show my best surfing."
The Gold for Team Brazil is their first in 19 years, not having been crowned World Surfing Games Champion since the 2000 edition of the event.
Aside from Ferreira's Gold, Brazil finished with two other individual medals. Gabriel Medina took the Bronze in the Men's Division and Silvana Lima took Silver in the Women's Division.
The Team Silver Medal went to USA, led by an individual Silver Medal performance from Kolohe Andino and a Copper Medal from Carissa Moore.
The 2018 Gold Medalist Team Japan earned the Bronze, while the Copper Medal went to Team Peru.
The Men's Grand Final featured the world's top talent going for broke in vastly improved conditions at Kisakihama Beach with Brazil's Ferreira and Medina, USA's Andino, and Japan's Shun Murakami vying for the Gold.
After seeing many mid-range scores from all competitors, Ferreira's 10-point full rotation aerial broke the heat wide open.
The final ended in a flurry of maneuvers that shook up the podium places. Medina and Andino both completed aerials in the dying minute, with Andino getting the better of the exchange with 9.43 points to surpass Medina for the Silver Medal, leaving Medina with the Bronze.
Japan's Murakami continued an inspired performance and finished with the Copper Medal for the second consecutive year.
Earlier in the morning, Murakami defeated Indonesia's Rio Waida in Repechage Round 10, making Murakami the highest finishing Asian surfer in the event and therefore capturing provisional qualification for Tokyo 2020.
Murakami and Waida embraced on the beach in an amazing gesture of sportsmanship, despite Olympic qualification slipping through Waida's fingers.
"I was not thinking about the Olympic qualification, just surfing in the moment and fighting in that heat," said Murakami.
"I am looking forward to competing in Tokyo 2020, it would be great if I can hold onto my spot."
After a passing typhoon brought strong winds and rain for Saturday's competition, Sunday kicked off at Kisakihama Beach with sunshine and clean conditions. The Men's Main Event Final, three Repechage Rounds, and the Grand Final remained to crown the individual and Team World Champions. Repechage Round 10 started off with a surprise as Brazil's Filipe Toledo had to withdraw due to injury. With Brazil in the lead heading into the final day, the injury could have had significant ramifications in the team rankings.
USA's Kelly Slater competed in the Main Event Final and despite finding another rare barrel, fell into the Repechage Final where he was also not able to advance.
Slater finished in fifth place overall and spoke about his experience at the ISA World Surfing Games.
"It was really fun and great meeting all the countries from around the world here," said Slater. "With all the camaraderie between the teams, this is one of the more fun events that you can surf in."
ISA President Fernando Aguerre said:
"Today is a very special day for the history of surfing. For the first time, every nation brought their surfing dream teams and for the first time an ISA World Surfing Games is a qualifier for the Olympic Games."Thank you to all the competitors, including the CT (Championship Tour) surfers, for taking time to compete and enjoy the ISA Aloha spirit at our World Surfing Games.
"All visitors, teams, fans, and supporters will now go home as ambassadors of this beautiful Miyazaki."The ISA will be back in Japan in less than a year, for the arrival of surfing at the world's greatest sporting stage, the Tokyo Olympic Games."
Tokyo 2020 Sports Director Koji Murofushi said:
"Tokyo 2020 is delighted with the success of the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games in Miyazaki this week. The event, held in this very popular surf destination in Japan, offered a glimpse of how spectacular Olympic Surfing will be next year.
"Across the whole week, there was an amazing energy along Miyazaki's beaches as passionate, youthful fans cheered on the best world-class surfers from around the world as they sought Olympic qualification.
"We were also very impressed with the Surfing Festival that was held on the first weekend - with great music and culture that created a fantastic celebratory atmosphere.
"Our Tokyo 2020 teams at the ISA World Surfing Games were able to learn a lot from this competition experience, which will ensure that the Olympic Games are also a great success next year.
"We now look forward to 2020 and we are proud and excited that the world will experience Olympic Surfing for the first time at the Tokyo Games."
See full results here.
Team Ranking
Gold - Brazil
Silver - USA
Bronze - Japan
Copper - Peru
5 - South Africa
6 - Australia
7 - New Zealand
8 - Costa Rica
9 - Spain
10 - Canada
Open Men:
Gold - Italo Ferreira (BRA)
Silver - Kolohe Andino (USA)
Bronze - Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Copper - Shun Murakami (JPN)
Open Women (finished September 10th):
Gold - Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
Silver - Silvana Lima (BRA)
Bronze - Bianca Buitendag (RSA)
Copper - Carissa Moore (USA)
Provisional Tokyo 2020 Qualification:
Men:
Shun Murakami (JPN)
Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)
Billy Stairmand (NZL)
Frederico Morais (POR)
Women:
Shino Matsuda (JPN)
Anat Lelior (ISR)
Bianca Buitendag (RSA)
Ella Williams (NZL)
It's always interesting to see who sticks around for a few days after a WSL World Tour event finishes. For a lot of the tour's surfers, those precious few days between events are time to head home and regroup. For others, they're for squeezing in some sessions at some of the world's best waves. Such was the case at Uluwatu after the Corona Bali Protected and Red Bull Airborne events ended at Keramas. With a solid swell in the water, surfers like Kelly Slater, Jack Freestone, Jack Robinson, Rizal Tanjung, and Mason Ho were all over the long, glassy left-handers running across Bali's most famous reef.
It’s Fri-yay so let Sir David Attenborough and Chris Bryan slide you into the weekend with this mesmerising edit. Chris worked on the Blue Planet with the living legend Attenborough, if it’s signed off by Sir David, it’s safe to say its wise to watch it. You won't be dissapointed.
I love filming in the ocean more than anything, its not just a job, its a passion. And sometimes its nice just to document waves without surfers riding them. The feeling of jumping off the rocks in the dark by myself just to capture the very first rays of light hitting the ocean without another sole in sight is unexplainable, its one of the most amazing feelings ever, its like my own personal therapy.
And to realise that you're the only person on this planet that got to witness these rare moments of absolute beauty as they happen is a really special feeling.
And now im excited to share my experiences with you through my latest passion project "MOCEAN".
Chris Bryan
