In the rainforest’s shadow, Brazilian surf capital blossoms
3 years, 2 months ago

In the rainforest’s shadow, Brazilian surf capital blossoms

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. She deployed snaps, cutbacks and aerials to win the under-18 women’s title and then emerged from the water sitting atop the shoulders of four friends, mimicking her idol, Gabriel Medina — a world champion raised at Maresias who has helped make Brazil's surfers as admired as its soccer stars worldwide. Doing it here is hard.” The beach in the town of Sao Sebastiao is ground zero for surfing in a nation that unleashed “the Brazilian Storm” on the world — a generation of professional surfers who have won five of the past seven men's world championships. “That first air was incredible.” When the buzzer sounded, sealing Medina’s victory, runner-up Filipe Toledo paddled over to offer a congratulatory hug. Sao Paulo state's string of North Shore beaches were relatively unknown before Medina put Maresias on the professional surfing map with his first world title in 2014, and he lifted the trophy again in 2018.

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History of this topic

Surfers at Amazon’s mouth ride some of world’s longest-lasting waves
1 year, 9 months ago

Surfers at Amazon’s mouth ride some of world’s longest-lasting waves

Associated Press  

CHAVES, Brazil — Surfers from all over Brazil gathered this week at the Amazon River’s mouth to ride some of the world’s longest-lasting waves, when the incoming tide roars upriver in a broad band that can keep surfboards afloat for kilometers. Never try to conquer it, because that’s impossible,” Noélio Sobrinho, president of Brazilian Pororoca Surfing Association, said in an …

In the rainforest’s shadow, Brazilian surf capital blossoms
3 years, 2 months ago

In the rainforest’s shadow, Brazilian surf capital blossoms

Associated Press  

SAO SEBASTIAO, Brazil — As most of Brazil tuned in to watch two local clubs battle for the continent’s soccer championship last month, 14-year-old Luana Reis was far from a television set. Doing it here is hard.” The beach in the town of Sao Sebastiao is ground zero for surfing in a nation that unleashed “the Brazilian Storm” on the …

In the rainforest’s shadow, Brazilian surf capital blossoms
3 years, 2 months ago

In the rainforest’s shadow, Brazilian surf capital blossoms

LA Times  

Rayana Tanimoto teaches her 5-year-old twin daughters, Eloa, left, and Ayla, how to surf at Maresias Beach in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, on Nov. 27. She deployed snaps, cutbacks and aerials to win the under-18 women’s title and then emerged from the water sitting atop the shoulders of four friends, mimicking her idol, Gabriel Medina — a world champion raised at …

Surfing makes long-awaited Olympics debut at Tokyo 2020
3 years, 8 months ago

Surfing makes long-awaited Olympics debut at Tokyo 2020

Al Jazeera  

Brazil’s Italo Ferreira and the US’s Carissa Moore emerge victorious in the first surfing heats at the Tokyo Games. “I’m so glad to be here, for sure,” Ferreira told reporters after emerging victorious in the first heats. “I had more of a sense of calm going into today … Whatever happens, I’ve done everything I could, and now it’s time …

Surfing gives hope to the differently-abled Brazilians
3 years, 8 months ago

Surfing gives hope to the differently-abled Brazilians

Live Mint  

Doctors told Malu Mendes that she would never walk normally again, but now she is a world champion at riding waves. "I feel free, it's a great pleasure, an inexplicable sensation, there's a great connection with nature," said Mendes, 28, who suffers from cerebral palsy. Mendes, the daughter of surfer Paulo Kid, attends the Surf Adaptado school that was inaugurated …

Olympic surfing: Can the exclusive sport become accessible?
3 years, 8 months ago

Olympic surfing: Can the exclusive sport become accessible?

Associated Press  

LEMOORE, Calif. — Italo Ferreira grew up without much in a small town with nothing to do. Greg Cruse, USA Surfing’s CEO, said he believes the rising popularity of surf wave pools will help close some of the access gap. “When surfing is only on the fringes of the continent and that’s expensive real estate, it’s not exclusionary by design …

Surfing, Japan and the Olympic Games: How Kanoa Igarashi has come full circle
3 years, 11 months ago

Surfing, Japan and the Olympic Games: How Kanoa Igarashi has come full circle

ABC  

Hawaii is widely regarded as the birthplace of surfing, but it is Japan that will be remembered as the place where, after decades of trying, it became an Olympic sport. "I never thought surfing would lead me to something that is much bigger than just the sport, the Olympics is much bigger than that," he told The Ticket. "Well, it's …

Surfing: A Peru way of life as sport debuts at Pan Am Games
5 years, 7 months ago

Surfing: A Peru way of life as sport debuts at Pan Am Games

Associated Press  

LIMA, Peru — Every dawn, on every day, surfers in wetsuits paddle out to take on the famed Peruvian waves. “As a Peruvian, I’m so proud that the Pan American Games are being held in Lima, and that for the first time, surfing is included as a sporting discipline,” said Alberto Lopez, who runs one of the dozen or so …

At a school in Rio’s slums, kids surf in toxic waters
8 years, 7 months ago

At a school in Rio’s slums, kids surf in toxic waters

Associated Press  

RIO DE JANEIRO — Eric Marques walks down a steep labyrinth of dark alleyways on this hillside slum long controlled by drug gangs and off-limits to outsiders. And so while some of the world’s top Olympic athletes compete in nearby Guanabara Bay, they attend a surfing school in the heavily polluted waves and dream that maybe, they’ll be good enough …

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