“When the wave breaks here, don’t be there.” Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Teahupo’o is not a wave for beginners. It’s barely a wave for experts when it’s on. And in the first few weeks of August, it was very, very on. In the days before the Tahiti Pro, the swell flexed its muscles proudly, so a few of the world’s best were there. Even the best, however, aren’t immune to wipeouts. Like Griffin Colapinto, who endured what he called “the worst wipeout of his life.”
“Obviously, that day was huge,” he explained. “There were tow waves all over the place, but there were still quite a few opportunities for paddle waves. Not being from there, I’m still learning which waves are actually doable and which ones aren’t. To figure that out, you’re going to have to jump over a couple of times.”
After doing just that on a mis-read wave, Griffin did everything he was supposed to do. He pin-dropped, got straight through, and was pleased to see when he surfaced that the wave behind it was just a little one. “I was like, ‘Oh perfect, I’m good,'” he said. “‘I’m going to be alright.'”
But he would not be alright. As he happily paddled over that little wave, he looked up to see the rest of the lineup frantically paddling. The boats and skis were moving, too. Everyone was whistling and yelling, and Griffin knew exactly what that meant.
“I’m like, ‘Oh no,'” he remembered. “You could feel the draw of the water; of the ocean pulling out. I started paddling as hard as I could, and the next thing you know, I look to my left and Eli Olson is getting towed into the biggest tow wave that had come through the whole time we’d been there.”
For a second as he saw Olson on the rope, Griffin thought he still might be okay — until he realized that he was right in the west bowl. Which isn’t a great place to be caught.
“I wasn’t really sure where I was because everything was happening so fast, but then I realized that I had to bail my board and swim under this thing,” he said. “Otherwise I’m going to get sucked over with the lip.”
He thought about ripping his leash off, but with Eli already on the wave, that would have been too dangerous. Instead, he did the only thing he could and tried to swim through the face of the wave as it broke over him. He was able to get three big strokes in before he felt the unrelenting pull of the wave on his board, and he knew he needed to give in to it.
“Instead of keeping on trying to swim, I just kind of pushed up to the surface and got one massive breath,” he continued. “Then the wave just sucked me back and down. It was like a washing machine. You just have to accept that it’s happening and then you can handle it better. If you’re like, ‘No, this isn’t happening; this can’t happen,’ that’s when you’re in danger.”
After one more wave on the head and another 20-second hold down, Griffin popped back up, took a very large breath, and was happy to see the Jet Ski in front of him. The pilot grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety.
The board broke and the leash was mangled, but Griffin was just fine. Fine enough to go on to get a second-place finish at the Tahiti Pro. You’ve got to pay to play, and Griffin really had to shell out this trip.
