Anyone who saw Wiggolly Dantas in Tahiti – both in freesurfs and in competition – will tell you he tapped into a very special headspace. It was abstract. It was beautiful. It was as if he made a deal with the Polynesian gods of the sea, forming utter cohesion with him and the wave. His turns, his tube riding—everything was in perfect unison. Unfortunately, he fell short (fourteen hundredths of a point, to be exact) to tour veteran and event champion, Jeremy Flores, in round five. But who could blame him? Jeremy was on fire. Still, you can’t ignore that Wiggolly is in damn fine position of becoming the 2015 Rookie of the Year. Watch out, Italo.
I’ve been hearing it all year: “Italo Ferreira is going to be the Rookie of the Year.” In fact, WSL commentators remind us of this every five minutes while Italo’s in the water. Like they have nothing else to say about him. But it’s for good reason, though. Italo has been the rookie to watch thus far. His surfing has been on-point, to say the very least, which has led many to believe he’s got the Rookie of the Year in the bag. But a mere 3,750 behind Italo is fellow countryman Wiggolly, who gave Italo the ol’ boot from the Hurley Pro and significantly narrowing the point gap. In fact, a great finish at Lowers will easily put Wiggolly in front. It won’t be easy, that’s for sure. Just make sure not to miss his quarterfinal matchup with world number one, Adriano de Souza.
Maru Iti from Marcos Nofuentes on Vimeo.
