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Even by Teahupo’o standards, the XL swells of August 5 and 6 were extra-large. Extra perfect. Extra petrifying. Extra ‘place of skulls’ as the Tahitian name translates in the local French Polynesian dialect.
Bearing in mind that 15-foot plus waves at Teahupo’o are considered the equivalent of 30-foot monsters elsewhere in the surfing world. There’s no other break generating such fearsome power over such a shallow reef.
The adrenaline-fuelled titter from the Teahupo’o channel those few stomach-dropping days was: Who, if any, of the World Championship Tour surfers in town would take on Teahupo’o at its most terrifying?
Fair enough for those who sat it out. The end-of-season Tahiti Pro was scheduled to start August 7 after all, when the swell was going to drop and all-important finals spots went on the line.
And Australian world No.4 Jack Robinson had almost scuppered his silver medal Olympic campaign on the same wave at the same time last year, requiring seven stitches to a cut that just missed his Achilles tendon.
On August 5, with Teahupo’o in full voice, Robinson never even thought about hesitating, though he did opt to tow-surf the Tahitian brutes rather than paddle onto the waves.
“Those would be some of the biggest waves I’ve surfed, certainly at Teahupo’o and definitely the thickest I’ve had out there too - there was just so much water and power behind it,” Robinson says.
“Honestly, I didn’t give the comp much thought at all. I’m just used to chasing big waves, I think. It’s natural for me, it’s what I do and what I’ve done for so long.
“For someone else, that concern might be there, and you can understand it, but it’s just natural for me to see those waves and want to ride them.
“So I go and do it. That’s important too, I think.
“You can’t be worrying about ‘I’ve got a contest tomorrow’ or ‘I could get hurt’. When you think about what could happen or variables, you’re not focusing all you need on the wave, and you can’t afford to think that way.
“That’s when it will all come crashing down on you, and you will cop the heaviest wipe out of your life.”
True to form, Robinson ran the field when the Tahiti Pro began proper, securing the Teahupo’o victory he needed to sneak into the top five and Tuesday’s one-day, winner-takes-all finals in Fiji.
Alongside him when Teahupo’o turned truly terrifying were CT pros Italo Ferreira (world No.5), brothers Crosby and Griffin Colapinto (No.3), Leonardo Fioravanti, and Seth Moniz.
Not for nothing, Colapinto and Robinson both surfed their way into the Tahiti Pro final.
Jack Robinson (right) and Matt Bemrose in between waves at a heaving Teahupo’o.Credit: World Surf League
The great irony now, along with the rest of the WSL men’s and women’s finalists, is they’ve spent the past week waiting for the right swell at Fiji’s famed Cloudbreak.
The 10 best surfers in the world have been twiddling their thumbs on Tavarua, with Robinson revelling in the company of his one-year-old son Zen and Brazilian wife Julia.
And now the swell - promising fast-breaking, left-hand barrels up to 12-feet - is about to land, with the nearby Restaurants break on standby if the wind swings.
“There are some similarities to Teahupo’o, so there’s definitely some skills and experiences I can use,” Robinson says.
“[Cloudbreak] is a big, heavy wave in the right conditions, and it can change really quickly. I’ve surfed it before where I’ve had 12 to 15 foot [waves] on the outside ledge and then the inside [part of the break] picked up, so I’ve been pretty lucky to have that experience.”
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Given the finals day format, where world No.5 Ferreira will take on Robinson (No.3), with the winner advancing to a heat against Colapinto (No.3) and so on, the 27-year-old Australian will need to surf five heats in roughly eight hours to claim a shock world title.
Robinson’s remarkable run at Teahupo’o three weeks ago saw him pull the same trick across four heats with his season on the line. Not that he’s putting too much stock in it.
“I’m just at the point where I go out and surf and enjoy it,” he says.
But as for that big-wave advantage, and taking the drop when others won’t?
“For sure, that’s an advantage. How can it not be right?
“The thinking is, naturally, ‘oh Jack was out there charging, where were the other CT guys? Oh they weren’t?’
“When it cranks up to that big wave experience, it’s definitely an advantage and something I’d like to use with a big swell.”
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