Photo: WSL
A wave pool is the last place where you’d expect to encounter a surprise water hazard. Despite that, Filipe Toledo ended up encountering one at the the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro this weekend, when he accidentally collided with a water photographer mid-heat.
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To add insult to injury, the judges also didn’t let him take another attempt at the wave – in a heat he would go on to lose to Kanoa Igarashi. “Following an unfortunate collision at the end of Filipe Toledo’s last wave and after consulting with the judging panel regarding the final score on the right, the commissioners office has made the decision to stand by the result,” explained the WSL in an Instagram post. “Per the head judge’s ruling – Filipe’s final turn would have added between 0.2-0.5 max if completed and that would not have changed the final result of the heat. As a result, there will be no re-surf of the wave.”
Toledo, for his part, seemed to take the result in stride – instead focusing on how lucky it was that everyone came out of the incident uninjured. “Super unfortunate what happened with the photographer,” he said in an Instagram story. “Thank God he’s okay, I’m okay. The impact that I felt on my board, if it was his hands or his head, or any part of his body, it would be really bad. So I’m really happy none of us are hurt. Shoutout to Kanoa for surfing super solid that heat. [He] deserved the win. No excuses on that. Definitely felt a little bit weird going left, but it is what it is. I’m happy with my performance and ready for the next one.”
