Griffin Colapinto just found out the hard way that drop-ins have consequences, even on Tour. During his round-one heat at the 2024 MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, a last-second priority interference call unexpectedly sent Griff into the elimination round.
The first 29 minutes of the heat got off to a rather uneventful start. A series of middling waves had given the competitors little to work with, but Griffin was making the best of it and sitting in first with a 4.83 and 4.50 – unsurprising, as he was the clear favorite to win. Close behind him was Callum Robson in second with a 9.17 total. Mateus Canhoto, the Portuguese surfer who entered the competition as Kelly Slater’s injury replacement, brought up the rear with 6.80.
However, in the final 30 seconds, things got interesting. Griffin had priority, but inadvertently transferred it over to Robson when they both paddled for a wave that ultimately neither went for. On the very next wave, Callum took off and Colapinto dropped in right in front of him. As Griffin briefly ducked into the barrel, Callum looked up to the judges tower and stretched his arms out wide in disbelief. In the background, the buzzer blared as time ran out.
As the surfers returned to the beach, it became clear that Griff had been unaware of the priority transfer. “Was that bad?” he said, “He paddled for the wave before, right?” After a long deliberation, the judges made a priority interference call, which not only disqualified the offending wave, but erased Griff’s lowest score.
With that, Robson and Canhoto took first and second, and Colapinto was sent to the elimination round. Griff will more likely than not make light work of round two, but we’ll take our drama where we can get it.
