Photo: Henrique Casinhas // Capitulo Perfeito
Tiago Stock stood in the lobby of the Oitavos hotel, waiting for Rob Machado to finish an interview. Tiago was up next. It wasn’t his first time talking to press after winning a surf competition, but close to it. Last time he was in the public eye was in January, when he got a wildcard entry for Capitulo Perfeito by winning a trials event. Now, after winning the entire competition, all eyes are on him.
Photo: Andre Carvalho // Capitulo Perfeito
Tiago has a boyish charm because, well, he’s 18. After the interviews for Portuguese TV, the press event took him to the driving range of the hotel’s golf course, to hit some balls with Rob and Pedro Boonman. At one point, a photographer was invited to take a swing, so he handed Tiago his camera. Tiago immediately lifted it to his eye and took a snap, then darted away to playfully take a photo of another photographer, who smiled and shot right back. In the moment, he seemed like any normal goofy teenager, but after his performance at Carcavelos last month, we know he’s anything but.
Photo: Henrique Casinhas // Capitulo Perfeito
Carcavelos, located in Cascais, Portugal, is a wave that Nic von Rupp told us, “On its day, rallies with some of the best breaks in the world, like Pipe or Puerto Escondido or Supertubes.” It’s also Tiago’s home break. As a result, Tiago has a sense of comfort in the barrel that goes well beyond his years, as well as a unique advantage in this event. “Carcavelos is definitely a tough wave to understand,” he told us. “I knew that certain waves break in certain points and I just caught a good one.”
His victory took place in a final heat against Rob Machado, Balaram Stack and Dylan Graves. Those are some big names, but Stock was unfazed. “I wasn’t nervous, to be honest,” he explained. “It was just a pleasure to be in the water with all those amazing guys.” He was also bolstered by his friends, family and neighbors in the audience. “All the beach was supporting,” he added, “so I was very confident that I could do some big damage, and I did.”
Photo: Pedro Mestre // Capitulo Perfeito
His strategy was simple: to capitalize on the other surfers’ low wave counts with a big score. He also managed to turn Machado’s experience to his advantage: “I was just on top of Rob, watching where he was going,” he told us. “I was kind of following him to see what he was going to do.”
It turned out to be the right move, as Rob was the first to land a significant wave and continued to hold the number one spot for the first part of the heat. That was, until the right moment came and Tiago struck. He landed a 3.50 and a 6.25 in quick succession, unseating Machado from first place with what quickly proved to be an insurmountable lead.
As the final minute wound down, everyone in the water knew he had it. “I was actually looking at Balaram,” remembers Tiago. “There was a set coming and Balaram just knew it. The waves were not good enough, so he was just congratulating me. I couldn’t believe, then, the moment.” The clock hit zero and the crowd erupted into shouts and applause. Tiago was the hero of Cascais.
Photo: Andre Carvalho // Capitulo Perfeito
As he was taken in on the back of a Jet Ski, Tiago triumphantly held his board aloft. A horde of young men streamed into the water to greet him, shouting, splashing and waving their shirts above their heads. When asked how he felt in that moment, Tiago said, “I felt accomplished, like I did a big thing on that day. All my friends, family, even people I didn’t know, just went to the water just to support me and be with me in that moment.”
So, what’s next?
When asked if he’d spent any of the prize money, Tiago said he hadn’t touched it yet. “I need to think smart in this occasion, invest in myself to do a big trip to some good waves with big barrels,” he explained. As to what he wants to achieve next: “I want to continue learning and I really want to travel to learn more. Go to places where I can learn in the water with big names, with the people that have done amazing things in the surf world.”
Photo: Pedro Mestre // Capitulo Perfeito
He hasn’t decided yet whether he’s going the competitive, or barrel-hunting freesurfer, route – maybe both. No matter what he does, Tiago Stock is one to watch.
