54-year-old Kelly Slater can still surf Teahupo’o with the best of them. Photo: Hannah Anderson//WSL
I, admittedly, did not watch the first two days of competition at the Tahiti Pro because I was out of cell range. However, when I came back to civilization and checked on the contest, I was surprised to see that, not only did it run the first two days of the window in wild conditions, but 54-year-old wildcard Kelly Slater stole the show like it was 2005.
I had some homework to do, catching up on the nine heats that ran. Unruly, windy Teahupo’o provided all that you’d imagine: brutal wipeouts, spitting tubes, and feast-or-famine heat results. Here are four takeaways from the opening rounds of competition.
Kelly Slater set the tone
With five wins at Teahupo’o, Kelly Slater has nothing to prove. However, after defeating Eli Hanneman in round one, the 11-time world champ said that, as a wildcard, you have to have something to prove.
“When you’re not in the environment of competition all the time, it’s not easy to stay in that mindset,” Slater said. “I felt like I kind of locked back in in that heat.”
Lock in he did. After a few warm-up tubes in the six-point range, Slater found the long, gaping cavern that he was looking for, a nine-point ride — his 46th all-time at Teahupo’o.
“I’m just trying to match my age with nine-point rides,” Slater joked.
Even if Slater says he has something to prove, he was surfing loose. He was having the most fun, completing spitting tubes to high-fives in the channel. He made the wind-blown conditions look easy.
But as a low-seeded wildcard, Slater draws the formidable challenge of Gabriel Medina in round two. Anyone who draws Slater knows they will have their hands full at Teahupo’o, but after the show Slater put on in round one, expect Medina to paddle out ultra-focused for the matchup.
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Eli Hanneman survived some beatings
Slater said he spoke with his opponent, Eli Hanneman, after their heat, adding that Hanneman had opportunities to win. But instead of threading the tube with no hands as Slater did, Hanneman found himself thrust over the falls not once, but twice.
Luckily, Hanneman came out unscathed and, after the first, paddled back out for another one. If you are going to lose to a nearly unbeatable form of Slater, that is certainly a memorable way to do it.
Despite the valiant effort, the loss is just another in a frustrating season for the 26-year-old Hawaiian. He now sits in 30th place overall, a bleak spot to be in to requalify for the 2027 tour.
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Some dramatic heats, and some duds
While watching the 2024 Olympics in the Teahupo’o channel, I observed how hit-or-miss Teahupo’o can be when it gets big. It often leads to dramatic, action-packed heats and just as many lifeless heats where a surfer wins with less than five points. The first days of the 2026 Tahiti Pro were no exception.
Kelly Slater, Seth Moniz, Kauli Vaast, and Eimeo Czermak highlighted the early heats with their made tubes. But for every entertaining heat, there were just as many where no surfer scored higher than 10 points. Ramzi Boukhiam won with a total of 8.17, Luke Thompson won with 5.5 points, Alan Cleland won with six points, Baron Mamiya won with 9.07 points, and Connor O’Leary won with 4.06.
That’s the nature of the opening rounds running at big Teahupo’o — even more so when the winds are hard sideshore. Diamonds in the rough are the name of the game. As day three kicks off in similarly massive, blustery conditions, it’s looking like we will see more of the same.
Seth Moniz rumbled into round three with tubes like this. Photo: Matt Dunbar//WSL
Seth Moniz spoiled Eimeo Czermak’s hometown performance
Teahupo’o is such a unique wave that, perhaps more than any other spot on tour, local knowledge is at a premium. In 2024, we saw Vahine Fierro win the event as a wildcard, and Kauli Vaast win the Olympic Games. Even though Eimeo came into the Tahiti Pro as a low-seeded wildcard, his Teahupo’o knowledge can make him a favorite in any matchup.
When Czermak nabbed a seven-point barrel off the bat, it looked like an inevitability that the hometown surfer was going to make some noise in the event. But Hawaiian Seth Moniz is no stranger to heavy waves and didn’t get rattled.
After scoring a 6.5-tube in the opening exchange, Moniz found a heat-best eight-point barrel with extended time behind the curtain. With two minutes remaining, he surpassed Czermak and ended the hometown celebration early. Then, the following day, Moniz defeated the reigning world champ Yago Dora in another high-scoring affair, setting up a round three matchup with Barron Mamiya.
