Brazil’s Lucas Chianca and France’s Justine Dupont on Monday claimed victories at the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge, as high-performance big wave surfing took a leap forward in perfect, giant surf in Portugal.
The specialty event saw surfers whipped into the towering waves by Jet Skis, using small, weighted surfboards and footstraps to help navigate the bump and chop.
For decades, surfers dreamed of transferring the tight turns, tube rides and aerial maneuvers possible on smaller waves to giant canvases, and from the first wave of the event, it was clear that time had come.
Photo: AFP
Towed into a 12m to 15m peak by his Hawaiian partner, Kai Lenny, Chianca threw in a 360-degree spin midway down the face of the wave before pulling into a tube and signing off with another spin as he sped safely off the back.
The pair best negotiated the tricky lineup over their two heats, swapping between surfing and driving the Jet Ski to get their partners into the waves and out of trouble to win the Best Team performance award for the second time running.
“It’s an honor to be towing and be Kai’s partner,” Chianca said. “He definitely put me on the best waves of the day for sure, and we did our best out there. This is one of the best performances of my life and I’m so stoked.”
It was not all smooth sailing for the pair, who got caught by a huge foam monster on their ski, but emerged unscathed.
“It’s a dream come true working with someone like Lucas because we’re so like-minded,” said Lenny, who won the event the last time it was held.
“We go out and we know the exact waves we want, and we’re trying to push our performance as far as we can in the airs, barrels and turns, and we’re just having so much fun out there,” Lenny said.
Dupont was also a second-time winner after dominating the women’s division with a series of critical rides, while Brazil’s Pedro Scooby was another standout, claiming second place in the men’s competition.
The waves at Nazare are supercharged by a canyon up to 5,000m deep that ends just off the coast, funneling huge winter swells from the Atlantic Ocean into enormous and often unpredictable peaks that break just north of the town.
Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa holds the Guinness world record after riding a 24.4m wave at Nazare in 2017, while countrywoman Maya Gabeira rode a 22.4m giant last year.
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
Donyell Malen on Monday scored in each half as AS Roma beat Cagliari 2-0 to stay in touch with the chasing pack at the top of Serie A. Leaders Inter are eight points clear of city rivals AC Milan and nine ahead of reigning champions SSC Napoli. Roma are three points further back along with Juventus. Dutch centerforward Malen had scored only once in four appearances since joining on loan from Aston Villa last month, but he proved his worth on Monday with two excellent finishes. He ran on to a clever through-ball from Gianluca Mancini and his deft chip over the goalkeeper
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
RSS