Surfing Australia diving into uncharted waters with Olympic camp at wave pool
AUSTRALIAN surfing is hoping NBA star Patty Mills drops in as the sport ups the ante for historic medals at the Tokyo Olympics as the first nation to book out Kelly Slater’s wave pool ranch in the US for high performance camps.
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AUSTRALIAN surfing is hoping NBA star Patty Mills drops in as the sport ups the ante in its bid for historic medals at the Tokyo Olympics as the first nation to book out Kelly Slater’s wave pool ranch in the US for high performance camps.
Surfers including Tyler and Owen Wright, Steph Gilmore, Julian Wilson and Sally Fitzgibbons will swap Australia’s famous breaks for a man-made one in California in June and August with Surfing Australia on the front foot as it prepares for the very real possibility Olympic surfing will be contested in a wave pool in Tokyo in two years.
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Along with national team members, Mick Fanning and world champions Layne Beachley and Mark Richards will also be at the camp organisers hope Mills will attend as a motivator if his schedule allows.
Surfing Australia is backing the move for a wave pool to be built in Japan due to fears conditions will be small and poor during the Games and unsuited to the Australian style of surfing.
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“We are taking the athletes for a week in June with their coaches, shapers and members of our high performance team,’’ said Surfing Australia CEO Andrew Stark.
“We want the Olympics to be in a wave pool. We believe Japan is a bit of a risk - historically the waves aren’t the best at that time of the year. And historically Australians perform better in better waves.’’
National High Performance director Kim Crane, a former Hockeyroo hailing from the surf mecca of Torquay, said American-based athletes like Mills will be invited following the success of Cathy Freeman and kayaking star Ken Wallace both talking to surfers at a recent camp.
The surf ranch has the longest, rideable open-barrel man-made wave in the world with the wave pool making its debut as a World Tour event for women and men later this year.
Crane said the camps are critical for an Australia team already being tipped for multiple medals on surfing Olympics debut in 2020.
“What we will get out of this is a massive performance advantage,’’ said Crane, also charged with creating a team culture an winning dynamic among surfers and a generation next of athletes to contest future Olympics should the sport remain at the Games permanently.
“This camp is about being one step ahead of the rest.’’
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Crane said surfers will also be readied to surf a beach break at the Olympics should organisers opt against a wave pool – seen by most as a guaranteed way of showcasing the new sport to its best advantage.
Australia, as one of the powers of the sport along with the US and Brazil, is likely to field a full compliment of two women and two men at the Olympics where the 20 best surfers of both sexes will compete for the first time.
From 2019 the World Surf League will play a major role in determining who will surf in Japan with surfers also required to contest events such as the world surf games to validate their eligibility.