The Apple Watch-World Surf League collaboration seemed logical enough when it was first announced in 2023. The tech giant released a video this week touting the partnership as it moves into its third year. That’s basically the news: partnership continues after approval from tech brand with a fruity name. The video claims the collab changed pro surfing? But did it? Maybe competitive pro surfing. But not really for the average fan. And it was a rocky start, if you remember those early days three years ago.
Back in 2023, the watch tech addressed communication needs that competitive surfing had never had the tools to tackle. With one accessory. Suddenly, athletes could get information on heat scores in real time, access the running clock, lead changes, priority changes, and more all without having to turn their back on the ocean and look for clues on shore.
The WSL communicated these advantages when it announced the collaboration, outlining a WSL competitor app that granted access to all that critical information. Surfers would exclusively wear Apple watches in heats, which would be checked out like singlets before paddling out.
“The unique capabilities, ease of use, and incredible water resistance of Apple Watch make it the ideal solution to support our surfers competing in the extreme conditions of our worldwide tour,” said Erik Logan, the WSL CEO at the time. “Surfers need critical information while they compete, and the WSL Surfer app we’ve developed for Apple Watch provides real-time data that will help the communication flow from the WSL scoring system to the competitors in the water.”
But things stumbled out of the gate when the CT season kicked off at Pipe weeks later. Leo Fioravanti ripped the watches for not working as advertised after losing an early heat.
“Nothing to take away from Apple or WSL. I mean, what they’re doing is great, trying to bring some technology into our world. But if my watch doesn’t work from start to finish and I gotta ask for time, like, I’ve been used to having the time on me at all times in heats. And we’re fighting for our careers so I hope they figure it out because my watch didn’t work from start to finish. So that’s pretty heavy,” he said after.
Surfers were all mandated to wear the watches, too, with refusal reportedly costing them $5K for a first-time violations and doubling on a second violation, all the way up to $50,000. As for Fioravanti’s blow up, another CT athlete told The Inertia the Italian surfer had been handed a hefty fine for his criticism. It was enough that we shouldn’t expect athletes to criticize the tech anymore, he implied.
Sure enough, we haven’t heard much since. It’s fair to assume a tech giant like Apple would at least address those early hiccups, just as it was fair to assume there’d be glitches in the launch. That’s how technology tends to work, at scale, too. The watches have been in use for three years now and by all accounts, the application in CT contests has become practical. Mostly because fans haven’t even noticed them. And that’s probably a good thing.
