2021 Olympics Fan Guide: Everything you need to know about surfing

As the 2021 Olympics are approaching, surfing will be appearing for the first time as an Olympic sport, here is a fun fan guide to Olympic surfing. 

Surfing is now an Olympic sport. There is the excitement of the top surfers hitting the water to compete for their countries and try to bring home the first Olympic gold medal in surfing. Here is everything you need to know about Olympic surfing.

2021 Olympics: Surfing athletes to know

There will be 20 men and 20 women competing from 18 different countries. These are the best of the best surfers in the world. Many are surfers who compete on the World Surf Leauge (WSL) Championship Tour. The rankings by country of the WSL tour were taken into account when deciding who would represent their countries.

The United States has a great shot of seeing some podium finishes with the four talented athletes competing. For the women are Carissa Moore and Caroline Marks. Moore won the WSL championship back in 2019 for her fourth title. She has to be the heavy favorite going into the Olympic Games. Marks on the other hand is probably Moore’s biggest competition. She is 19 years old and came on the competition scene like a ball of fire. She has been rising to the top year after year and now that she is finished with high school she is a force to be reckoned with.

On the men’s side, the team to look at is the Brazilians. Leading the way are Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira. Both of these men have been battling it out for the top spot on the WSL tour. The last year of competition in 2019 saw Ferreira win his first championship.

2021 Olympics: Surfing rules explained

The competition takes place at Shidashita Beach located 40 miles outside of Tokyo. Surfing competition is different than any other sporting event due to unpredictable conditions. There will be a holding period between July 25 and August 1, in which the people in charge will assess the waves each morning and pick the best days to hold the competition.

If the waves are satisfactory then the heats will be able to begin running. The heats will consist of four athletes at a time. The surfers will be using common surf etiquette in which the surfer closest to the peak of the wave will have priority to that wave.

Each wave will be judged by a panel and scores will be based from 1 to 10. The scores will go to two decimals such as 5.89. The scores will be based on speed, maneuvers, air, and barrels. The best two scores from each heat will move on to the next round.

2021 Olympics: The elevator pitch for surfing

When you think of surfing you might think of laidback dudes on the beach catching waves and sailing back and forth in the water. Well, yea, that’s surfing, but add in a competition vibe and things get heated up. Since the waves are very unpredictable, wave choice is key. If one rider lets a wave pass and another gets a killer ride out of it that could be the end of your competition. So choosing is just as important as performing.

The surfers do try to get into each other’s heads out there. They play games with priority and location in the water. There is excitement in catching the waves but once a big one is caught, watch out. These men and women are the best in the world. They have an amazing ability to do things in the water that weren’t even imaginable back a few years.

Look out for crazy cutbacks, deep barrel rides, and big air. Unlike some other sports where scoring a perfect 10 is almost impossible, you will most likely see some perfect rides in surfing. The crazy sight of a surfer disappearing into a deep barrel and just when you think they will get closed out, they come sailing out with the spit of the wave, that is what it is all about. Surfing as an Olympic sport is just getting started this year. The shortboard competition is where it is at but look forwards a couple of years and we could see some other additions like longboard.