Stephanie Gilmore calls for wave pools for Olympic surfing
AUSTRALIAN great Stephanie Gilmore would prefer to see Olympic surfing contested in a wave pool than the ocean to help ensure the sport is always shown at its best.
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AUSTRALIAN great Stephanie Gilmore would prefer to see Olympic surfing contested in a wave pool than the ocean to help ensure the sport is always shown at its best.
The six-time world champion also believes a wave pool is the answer for prospective Games hosts who could be landlocked or without a suitable coastline.
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While the IOC, Tokyo 2020 Games organisers and the International Surfing Association have publicly declared surfing will be contested at Tsurigasaki Beach in Chiba, speculation is rife a wave pool is to be built in Tokyo in time for the 2020 Olympics.
Rumours have persisted since surfing gained Olympic program acceptance that it would be held in a wave pool.
Both the Australian and US teams have already run high performance camps in wave pools in America and the World Surf League introduced a wave pool contest to its World Tour for both men and women this season.
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“If we knew it would be in an ocean where the waves were consistent and there was a perfect reef break then for sure I’d be down for it,” Gilmore said ahead of her first competitive surf at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.
“But there are so many counties where the waves aren’t there, who might not even have an ocean.
“I think it would be good to be consistent from the very beginning.
“It would be strange to crown an Olympic champion in the ocean one Games and then in the pool in another.
“I think they need to start it in a wave pool and keep it going. It would be terrible if you worked for four years and then there was no surf.”
Gilmore is hoping the benefits of recent training with Surfing Australia at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch in the US in June will aid her bid to win the first J-Bay Open for women in almost two decades.
“It was pretty perfect preparation for here actually. The waves are pretty similar,” she said from South Africa.
Surfing is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo and will feature 20 men and 20 women competing for individual medals.