Surfing runs a risk by featuring in the Olympics, and I’m not talking about the prospect of inexperienced surfers going over the ledge at Teahupo’o. No, the real danger is that the Olympics amplifies the inherent weaknesses of surfing as a TV fixture. This is because it appears in a schedule that puts it directly in competition with more traditional sports; ones that can deliver the whole package of drama, action and results in a more concentrated fashion.

I didn’t get up at 3 am to watch the opening round of the surfing, but like many of us I made use of modern media to view the replay when I woke up sleepy-eyed on Sunday morning.

After a bizarre info-graphic with lots of strange arrows that made a big deal about the controversial judging tower, I was greeted with four foot Teahupo’o. The remote tripped to heat two, where Jack Robinson was taking on Joan Duru and Mathew McGillivray. I lasted half a heat before my traditional Olympics brain started to get the better of me.

I really wanted to know what happened in the much-hyped 400 metre final of the swimming where Ariarne Titmus (known affectionately as Arnie) was defending her Olympic title. So I ditched Chopes and went looking for the replay. In under five minutes of pool time, I’d watched world-class rivals going stroke for stroke, shouted at the screen and shared in the collective Australian stoke that fills the nation every time we win gold. Back at Chopes they were still waiting for a wave.

To be honest, I despise swimming culture. It reeks of chlorine, black-line monotony and super organised families who can drop little Johnny and Jenny at the pool twice a day, with home-baked snacks ready as soon as the kids are wrapped in their freshly washed towels. Surfing culture and my family was nothing like this. When I was growing up you kind of had to make your own way at home and the beach.

The raw, unpredictable energy of the ocean and its ability to change shape every day made it much more appealing than the oblong rigidity of the pool – how boring. The pool symbolised white bread, conservative Australia. Meanwhile, the surf culture I grew up in was anarchy at sea. Surfers were closer to pirates than anything else and waves were the spoils they fought over – what fun.

As you can see I’m quite conflicted. Despite my disdain for swimming culture, I can’t help but concede it’s a good Olympic sport – particularly when your country is in the hunt for gold.

I made it back to the surfing replays after the nappies were changed and the Sunday chores completed. Carissa Moore was side-slipping into a glassy six-footer as a rainbow bent over a mountain back-drop. Maybe surfing did have a universal appeal that everyone could appreciate. However, the gymnastics, basketball and track and field are all screaming for my attention too. I’m going to have to get better with the remote…