The SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro is coming up and it has one of the most insane lineups I’ve ever seen. Griffin Colapinto, John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Italo Ferreira, and many more go head to head at the most dangerous wave in the world, Teahupo’o. This event will take place from May 22nd and 23rd. Teahupo’o has the title of one of the most dangerous and scary breaks in the world. It looks like a 15 foot wall moving towards you. Once the wave starts to break, it makes one of the biggest barrels and has one of the steepest drops known to man.

Surf competitions are scored differently from other sports. All surfers are split up into heats, with three surfers in each heat. Each surfer can catch as many waves as they want, but the top two waves get added up for their total. Each wave is scored on a 10.0 point scale. These waves are judged on the speed, power, and flow of each surfer on the wave. The more turns and airs that you do, the higher your score will be. One surfer from each heat will move on to the next round.

Griffin Colapinto is currently rated #1 in the World Surf League (WSL) lineup. He is known for his incredible turns and board control. He has won tons of surf championships in the past and it would be no surprise to see him come out on top again. He recently won the MEO Rip Curl Pro in Portugal. As well, his brother Crosby Colapinto is rated #12 and is working on climbing the rankings to be at the top of the leaderboard next to his brother. To see these two in the final would be groundbreaking.

John John Florence is a Hawaii local who grew up surfing Pipeline, which is every surfer’s dream to surf. John John is currently ranked #3 in the WSL leader board. He is known for getting the craziest barrels and making it out of bad situations that people think are impossible. He is super versatile and can definitely get a couple good waves to move from heat to heat. He will definitely make it through the first couple rounds.

Italo Ferreira comes out of Brazil and is extremely entertaining to watch. He loves throwing the craziest tricks and although he doesn’t always land them, when he does, it is certain he will get a good score. If he can land his tricks in this competition, he will for sure make it through to at least the semi finals.

Last but definitely not least, is Kelly Slater. Slater owns his own wave pool, constructed from a train. This makes a perfect wave every time which is perfect for learning new moves. Even though he is ranked #32 in the WSL leader board, in past years he has been so consistent in getting good waves and making it to the finals. Slater is the oldest surfer in this competition. He started surfing at the age of 5 and is now 52 years old.

Currently all first heats are done with and we are now approaching the elimination round, which will be started on May 29th.