With WA in the rear view, albeit abandoned by the WSL citing heightened shark activity in the area, it’s time we turn our attention to The Founders Cup. Despite not being a CT event (you will have to wait for that until September), the event could influence the sport’s future. It’ll feature mixed teams from surf nation powerhouses and may be a preview of future Olympic formats or the Tour as we know it.
The WSL have been heavy on the PR offensive as they try to cajole mainstream masses to tune into the event and even buy tickets to the stadium for a “classic California weekend’. Convincing surfers to head inland to watch a bunch of guys and gals surf a pool might be a hard sell. But, “with 700 yards of ‘sideline’ you won’t be close enough to see it—you’ll be close enough to feel it,’ so says the marketing spin on their website. Surely that will appeal to the NFL fans out there.
Whether you love or loathe Kelly’s magic pond you must admit it’s freaking amazing. Through some genius engineering the GOAT has been able to deliver the impossible and has turned surfing on its head.
But will it be boring?
Watching clip after clip each day pouring out from the WSL’s social channels is bordering on delirium. It raises questions around how the judges will score those tubes. Will they have to be timed? It’s going to be a whole new approach. Given the scarcity of excellent scores dished out on the CT this season it’ll be interesting to see if the trend continues. Multiple aerials like the one we saw Filipe drop at J-Bay last year and tube to carve combos will need to be the dropped.
What we do know is that:
– Waves will be called ‘runs’ (just like in snowboarding).
– The event will consist of 5 teams* (we’ll get to the teams later) of 5 athletes from countries: Australia, Brazil Europe, USA, and The World.
– Each surfer has 2 waves per run. The top 2 waves score into the team’s total.
– The Top 3 teams will advance into the final.
– The Final will consist of 5 heats with each athlete surfing 2 waves. Heat placings earn points toward a team’s total.
– The team with the highest Point Total will be deemed the first-ever Founders’ Cup Champion.
By now almost everyone on the CT has had a turn at Surf Ranch. They were probably yelled at by Raimana from the ski and maybe they visited a casino in Lemoore. But according to Matt Wilko, the only warm up invitees of The Founders Cup will get prior to the event is a one day session with every other surfer and consist of only a handful of waves. If they fall on their run, too bad.
So, who has the advantage?
Well let’s state the obvious and say this is Kelly’s event to lose. If he can’t win here even with a clubfoot, a warehouse full of Firewires and having banked more hours here than anyone on planet earth will ever in their lifetime a return to the CT is unlikely.
Other than KS, you’d think the Brazilians and Aussies are the strongest. Aerial wizardry from the Brazilian Storm is a given, remembering that Medina won the exhibition event last year. While the silky-smooth tube riding of Steph Gilmore should carry some style points and Mick will powerhouse it. But with John John and Carissa now deemed ‘American’ not ‘Hawaiian’ and flanked by Kelly, Kolohe (they should have picked Colapinto) and Courtney Conlogue, the USA will be the team to beat. With more world titles and perfect 10s in their career between them it could be an all-out hoedown in Lemoore if Team America take out the win.
The Teams
AUSTRALIA TEAM:
Captain: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
Mick Fanning (AUS)
Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Julian Wilson (AUS)
Tyler Wright (AUS)
BRAZIL TEAM:
Captain: Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Filipe Toledo (BRA)
Silvana Lima (BRA)
Taina Hinckel (BRA)
EUROPE TEAM:
Captain: Johanne Defay (FRA)
Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Frederico Morais (PRT)
Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Frankie Harrer (DEU)
USA TEAM:
Captain: Kelly Slater (USA)
John John Florence (USA)
Kolohe Andino (USA)
Carissa Moore (USA)
Courtney Conlogue (USA)
WORLD TEAM:
Captain: Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Michel Bourez (PYF)
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
Paige Hareb (NZL)
Bianca Buitendag (ZAF)
