Five Things Happening in the Surf World that are NOT the U.S. Open of Surfing
As summer begins to wrap up, it’s that time of year where the “circus” comes to town to dominate our news feed about all things surf/skate/BMX/party culture related at the 2017 Vans U.S. Open of Surfing.
But this isn’t about that.
Nope.
In case you haven’t noticed, there are other noteworthy happenings circulating the internet in conjunction with the insanely skillful action sports event and it’s games, clothing and salacious body art.
Google fingers, start your engines!
WSL’s New Exec
The World Surf League (WSL) has named Sophie Goldschmidt as their new Chief Executive Officer. According to Surfline.com, Ms. Goldschmidt comes from a mainstream sports background. From the WSL press release:
Goldschmidt joins the WSL from CSM Sport and Entertainment, where she served as Group Managing Director and was responsible for developing and driving new business initiatives and commercial growth across the company’s global operations, in addition to managing the group’s brand development and marketing. Passionate about surfing, she has strong relationships and international experience working across global markets in both sports management and marketing and communications having held executive roles in the Rugby Football Union, National Basketball Association (NBA), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and Adidas.
“It is an honor to lead the WSL,” she said. “The League has experienced tremendous growth in recent years and has pioneered incredible innovations to transform surfing into a remarkable, digital-first and world-class sport that naturally also transcends into the lifestyle sector so well.”
With this role, she becomes one of the few female executives to lead a global sports league for both male and female professional athletes.
Yay, girl power!!
Kelly Slater shattered some little piggies at J-Bay!
By “little piggies,” I don’t mean his competition. According to The Guardian and Mr. Slater’s Insta post, the 11-time world champ broke two metatarsal bones and expects to be out of commission for the next six weeks. Time re-organize your Fantasy Surf League!
Kelly’s Insta post:
“You ever folded your entire foot backwards? If you try it sometime, this is what it might look like. I pulled into a barrel this morning and the whitewash bounced the board back into my foot as I hit the closeout, taking all the pressure into the metatarsals…kinda like smashing my foot with a big hammer as hard as I can…”
OUCH.
SHARK(SSSSS)!
Historical fishing data shows that there are, at least, four juvenile white shark hot spots in Southern California. These areas are: Ventura/Oxnard, Santa Monica Bay, Huntington Beach and the stretch of coast between Dana Point and San Onofre.
They’re after those dem longerboarders, right?! ;)
Nah, according to KQED News, these juvis are attracted to the warmer coastal waters since, unlike their older (and bigger) relatives, they can’t handle the cold water temps. Additionally, they don’t have to worry about predators, like Orcas and bigger sharks, AND! There is an abundant food supply:
stingrays = potato chips
Which leads me to a bigger conclusion: I was a baby great white in a previous life.
Tropical Cyclone Party!
The North Pacific had a party last weekend and in case you were unable to attend and also suffer from serious FOMO, don’t worry. I was probably further inland than you (try: Austin, TX) and it looks like we missed nothing. In fact, I’m pretty sure I had a better opportunity to surf Austin’s wave pool, a.k.a.: NLand Park, but alas, I opted for a Sunday dive into Barton Springs.
The cool part about this little bit of news is that eight cyclones forming and cruising around all at once is quite the rare event–especially since, according to The Weather Channel’s Jon Erdman:
“On average, 36 tropical cyclones form each year in the northwestern Pacific and southwestern Pacific basins, combined,” wrote Jon Erdman for the Weather Channel. “Another 16-17 form each year in the central and eastern north Pacific basin.”
That’s a good chunk of our season already passing us by. So, what’s up with that? Watch TWC for a detailed explanation.
More Click Bait: Michael Phelps vs. Great White Shark
Per The Inertia’s recent coverage on this interesting staged competition, Phelps raced the CGI Great White and lost. Viewers are pissed. The 100 meter race between Phelps and the ocean’s top predator came down to Phelps shy of two seconds, his sleekly designed wetsuit equipped with a monofin getup no match for nature’s 15 million years of apex predatory evolution.
