A perfect wave, again and again, made to order? It is the sort of thing that surfers all over the world might dream of as they bob about in the ocean, waiting in vain for the next foaming ticket to ride.
While nature might be unreliable, a machine on display in this sun-baked corner of rural California this weekend, more than 160km from the Pacific Ocean, is to serve up wave after wave for an elite-level surfing competition.
The Surf Ranch is the brainchild of 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, a prototype of the giant wave pool that might one day be used to stage surfing competitions at the Olympics.
Photo: AFP
With surfing set to make its bow at the 2020 Tokyo Games, the venue for the competition — natural or artificial waves — is still to be formally confirmed.
The Slater-inspired facility on show in this sleepy California town aims to present itself as a viable option for competition.
The centerpiece of the Surf Ranch is a giant, 640m-long pool, where a huge metal hydrofoil is pulled along a track at one edge of the water, churning out consistent barrels and tubes.
“I always thought that if surfing is to grow, it would have to be in a controlled environment,” Slater said, but added: “I think the ocean can’t be replaced. I think big waves can’t be replaced. I think the randomness of what happens in the ocean and in mother nature is a big part of why we love surfing.”
Unlike conventional surfing competitions, where the timetable is often at the mercy of the elements, at Surf Ranch, waves are delivered more or less to order. For a competition like the Olympic Games, ever mindful of television audiences, that makes it an attractive proposition.
The World Surf League has bought the facility and the concept from Slater. Construction on a similar site in Japan is set to begin later this year and is to be available to Tokyo 2020 if required, league chief executive Sophie Goldschmidt said.
“So we are going to be building one in Tokyo and we hope that if it’s built and tested in time, then the Olympics will consider using it, because the waves at that time of year are not the best,” Goldschmidt said. “Ultimately, it is not our choice.”
Last weekend, Slater captained a US team in a league exhibition tournament that also included Brazil, Australia, Europe and a team from the rest of the world.
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and Australian veteran Mick Fanning, and women’s stars Stephanie Gilmore from Australia and Lakey Peterson from the US are just some of the surfers who took to the water.
The surfers were impressed by the artificial lake that delivers waves averaging about 1.8m high and traversing about 640m, offering barrel and maneuver sections.
“It’s easier,” Brazil’s Filipe Toledo said. “In the ocean it is more challenging, because you’re relying on nature, waiting. Here you get a perfect wave every three minutes.”
“Everyone gets the same conditions, the same opportunities, so the best surfer will win, and not necessarily one who makes a mistake or does not take enough risks,” he added.
Gilmore also believes the venue makes for a true test of talent, saying competitors would no longer be able to “blame it on the ocean” if they failed to deliver.
However, the league is adamant that artificial waves or “stadium surfing” will never replace traditional beach competitions.
“The ocean is as important as ever,” Goldschmidt said.
Meanwhile, Slater is dreaming of crowning his career with an appearance at the Olympics.
“It would be a great honor, to mark 40 years of competitive surfing like that,” he said.
Team USA was in the lead going into the final day of the Founders’ Cup yesterday, with 80.83 points over second-place Australia’s 75.82 points.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB