‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result’.
So when Arch Whiteman blew most of his savings on back-to-back Round of 96 losses during the QS events in Krui and Nias last season, he ditched the rest of the competitive year and spent the last of his budget on redirecting his flight home, back to Sumatra. He chased slabs with his mates and started shooting for a new edit.
The result of that trip meant much more than any contest placing, Arch used that time to rediscover his love for the sport and reconnect with his ‘why’. When he threw the jersey on again six months later at the QS 2,000 in Newcastle, he surfed his way to a 3rd place finish – his best Quey result to date.
During his time off, the 23-year-old from Avalon on Sydney’s Northern Beaches backed up his Sumatra footage with a couple of all time sessions at home. Throw in his debut trip to Hawaii at the start of this year and you have all the ingredients for his latest edit ‘Round of 96’.
While the title implies a light hearted poke at his contest results, there is some serious surfing on display with the goofy-footer showing he is no slouch when it comes to getting coned or laying it on rail.
We caught up with Arch to find out more about the project and his goals for 2026.
Tell us a bit about the title ‘Round of 96’
I’ve been doing the QS in Australia and Asia the past couple of years and last season I put all my money into it, dialed in my equipment and then proceeded to get knocked in the Round of 96 at both Krui and Nias. Nias, in particular, I had an absolute stinker and finished my heat with one wave and a total of 2.83. The conditions kept changing between pumping tubes and then onshore turns. I felt pretty confident as my backhand is a strong point and then I just got completely in my own head and caught neither.
I came in from that heat and just thought; ‘What the fuck am I doing? I’m absolutely blowing it.’ I wanted it that bad, but it was almost too much that I was completely in my own head.
How much does it hurt losing early in a QS event?
It absolutely sucks. Especially because I felt like my surfing was there and then I went and got a 2.8 in 25 minutes of pumping Nias. When results aren’t going your way it genuinely feels like you’re pushing an immovable object up the steepest hill ever.
Why do you think things didn’t go your way?
I think I was just so nervous because I wanted it so bad, but that made me seize up and my surfing became so safe and rigid. I was so scared to fall or make a mistake that it completely knocked my confidence. I think I also lost sight of why I was doing the whole thing.
Does the money side of things factor in your head when scenarios like this are happening?
Yes, fully. I remember at Nias I was sat in the water doing the numbers in my head thinking that 2.8 was a $1000 wave or something crazy like that. You could do a three week trip to the Ments with some of the money surfers spend on chasing the QS events.
It sounds like your decision to chase waves post Nias helped a lot.
After Nias I met up with my brother and some friends and we just hunted slabs while staying in Secret Sumatra. The last two days of that trip we surfed this new slab with no one else out and it just reminded me of what surfing is all about. Surfing is so fun if you don’t freak out and you learn to enjoy every bit of it.
And that trip was the catalyst for this edit?
Yes, I got loads of footage that trip and then I came home straight into a crazy winter swell and got the chance to ride a bigger board and learn to draw some different lines. That made up most of the edit and we were getting ready to release it, but then I got the call to go to Hawaii a couple of months ago and was lucky enough to score Pipe and Backdoor and get a couple of keeper clips.
You’ve since returned to competing, what keeps you coming back when you know you could be scoring slabs with your brother and friends for the same price?
When I’m competing I think it really holds up a mirror to how I’m feeling on the inside. Competing gives me purpose, especially when the surf is one foot at home and I need that motivation to get in the water.
This year is about putting my best foot forward, learning to soak it all in and have fun while competing. When I got third in the 2,000 at Newy, myself and a friend were living in our vans, smashing parmys for dinner and not sat there crying over whether to ride a 6”0 or a 6”0 and a half.
I feel like I’ve got the ability to qualify for the Challenger and do it while having fun.
