Pipe Inside Out: The Making of World Surf League 2016

Adriano de Souza WSL 2015 World Champion deep inside the barrel. 

It doesn't matter where you are from...it doesn't matter how old or young you are nor what your background is, or how much leverage or favoritism you might think you may have. At the WSL there is only one thing that matters...the way you surf. At the final stop of the 2015 World Tour at Pipe Masters Hawaii top surf athletes pushed the limits of the sport and gave shape to WSL 2016.  

On December 17 breaking most predictions and once again bringing surprises to the surf international table, Adriano de Souza took both the Pipe Masters as well as the 2015 World Title. Surfing at Pipe Masters was all about going deep and low and then finding a way out. With little or no room for air tricks the waves of Pipe and the analysis became the main role players of the event. “Inside the Barrel” that was what it was all about. The event which runs since the 1970s reached another peak in 2015 with surfers now emerging from all parts of the Globe.  

Not only was a World Champion decided at Pipe. The final ranking and those who will be in the 2016 WSL Elite World Tour was given its final shape. On December 22 WSL released the final roster of the 34 top international Athletes for the 2016 season. Of the 34, 22 are top listed Elite surfers and 10 are withdrawn from the Qualification Series as well as 2 WSL wildcard athletes which complete the list. 

De Souza, Fanning, Medina, Toledo, Wright, Wilson, Ferreira,, Flores, Slater, Young, Kerr, Bede Durbidge, Parkinson. John John Florence, Dantas, Burrow, Otton, Wilkinson, Buchan, Asing and 14 other athletes are the names which will make noise throughout 2016. 

Pipe Masters kicked off with an intensive Pipe Invitational. At first the Invitational lacked some speed but as the best filtered on through the break things began to get interesting. Invitational Surfers took on the high impact waves to compete for two slots in the Elite World Title race at Pipe Masters -the final stop of the WSL World Tour 2015. 

Australian Jack Robinson and Hawaiian Jamie O Brien obtained a spot after taking first and second positions in the Pipe Invitational. Mason Ho a young local surfer finished in third in the Invitational but made a spot due to injury replacement openings. 

The injury of Owen Wright -a main favorite in the run for the 2015 World Title left an open slot for another QS surfer which emerged from the Invitational waves. 

Owen Wright -one of the six favorites for the World Title 2015 suffered an injury while free surfing before the start flag of the Pipe Masters was raised. The shallow coral areas of the Pipe and the massive volume of water which waves up and breaks treacherously makes Pipe one of the most dreaded and feared locations in the world to surf. Owen Wright was taken to the hospital immediately after his free surfing injury and diagnosed a severe concussion, limited movement and minor brain bleeding. The free surfing injury left Owen Wright out of the game even before Pipe Masters doors were opened. 

Wade Carmichael and Bruce Irons filled spots left vacant by Freddy Patacchia from Hawaii and the injured Matt Banting from Australia. 

Impressively Mason Ho one the riders which reached Pipe Masters through an open slot in the Invitational made it all the way to the semi-finals and surfed with no other than the legendary Adriano de Souza.

Mason Ho´s intimate knowledge of Pipe waves played a vital role in his incredible show down at Pipe. Mason Ho lived and went to school in Hawaii, his backyard was Pipe beach, not a minor fact. Ho´s father and Uncle completed and taken home wins at Pipe. Ho was the only QS rider who reached semifinals. Just like several others Ho delivered clean Pipe Surfing when no one expected him to do that much. 

Pipe Invitational only warmed engines for the real thing. Once Pipe Masters Elite began things shaped up from Round 1 to Round 3 and final forms were given in  Round 4 and Round 5 -doors to quarter finals. 

WSL priority system allowed for less interference between waves and for the audience to see at times two heats in action. 

On the first days of Pipe weather was smooth and waves were even and broke open. Eventually waves began to fade out and the WSL Commissioner had to call one “Day Off” after the other until conditions improved in the Quarter Finals. 

Pipe waves are known for being a massive wall of water rising up to 10 or more meters and piping and breaking in shallow coral areas. Backdoors saw high points and clean rides were priced. The difficulty of riding Pipe was the main factor. Audience complained about Pipe wave conditions throughout some of the days of the event but as the 2015 World Champion Adriano de Souza said when he took both Pipe and the World Title, with 10 meter waves or not "Pipe is still Pipe". 

Top athletes recognize that Pipe is one of the most difficult places in the World to surf. The adrenaline fall, the hand slow-down, the deep search, disappearing inside the barrel and finally emerging standing or on knee riding, just finding in the foam those things became priority. 

John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Adriano de Souza to mention just some, made it far this year in Pipe and all had intimate knowledge of the waves. 

Adriano de Souza admitted to have knocked on the door of the local legend Jamie O’Brien who knows Pipe inside out and told him he would not leave until he took him under his wing. Souza spoke about what it was like to ride with no big sponsor and believing in himself and listening to the words of O'Brien who knows Pipe up close. 

Questioned on how big waves or how perfect waves need to be for Pipe to fair, WSL live commentators simply said that top World Surf Athletes are the best in the world because they can deliver incredible surfing in all kinds of conditions. Big, clean or messy, small and simple or tricky and closed, open and sunny or raining and clouded in sand or coral floors, WSL Athletes saw Pipe throw at them an entire repertoire of waves. They had to surf or leave and some did more than that. 

When waves broke uneven or leaving no opening obtaining high points was hard. Some riders moved up the heats with just two 5s or 6s, adding as much as they could. 

Gabriel Medina which seems to be on a different world altogether proved at Pipe that he still has what it takes. Medina took the Vans Triple Crown 2015 at Pipe and seemed to have fun like no one else out there. Medina threw in several air tricks including 360 air in the final Pipe wave . 

Adriano de Souza told Medina in the water in the finals that if it weren't for him he would never had won the World Title, "Medina showed me the way", Adriano de Souza a more veteran WSL Tour surfer told the young Legend and previous World Champion Gabriel Medina. Medina took wave after wave and showed no signs of feeling tired. Medina rode pipes in and out, as well as a few backdoors and took to the air.  

John John Florence and Kelly Slater also shined for their inside knowledge of Pipe. John John Florence relaxed and focused surfing style just seemed to flow right. Florence was one of the few riders which scored an almost ten point Pipe ride. Florence was also one of the few riders who managed to land a perfect air trick at Pipe.  

Slater reached Quarter Finals and was taken down by Mick Fanning in a fair show down. Slater -up to his own legend rode backdoors as it were the easiest thing in the world to do. Something about Slater and the way he surf still makes magic inside the ocean and on land for his fans. With 43 years old and being the oldest surfer in the WSL World Tour, Slater is still ranked Number 9 in the World.

Round after round surfers moved on and up, the favorites for the World Champion shaked and shuffled. WSL had 6 picks for the World Title, Owen Wright, Felipe Toledo, Mick Fanning, Julian Wilson, Gabriel Medina and Adriano de Souza. Owen Wright was brought down early off the list due to his free surfing injury. Toledo lost in Round 3 facing Mason Ho.   

Things got really interesting in Round 4. By then the favorites for the World Title were not yet decided but the second heat of Round was a Superheat. Slater surfed up against Fanning and John John Florence. WSL stated that this Superheat was perhaps the best battle of the year in heat mode. The three top surfers brought incredible surf to the heat until the final moments. John John Florence landed a 9.83 riding one the best waves of Pipe in this heat. But John John  9.83 were not enough for Slaters combined 8.17 and 8.30 which landed him second in the Superheat. Fanning with a 8 and a 9 flat took the victory. This superheat left John John out of the quarter finals but Slater still managed to slip inside that game. Some fans criticized WSL Judges for points given in this heat.

Souza and Medina saw in Round 3 more easy ways to the quarter finals. Medina scored a 9.30 and a 6 facing Hobgod and Asing who did little or nothing in the water. Mason Ho scored a 10 in Round 3 which he combined with a 6.23 and made it into quarter finals surprising everyone in Pipe. Adrianp de Souza mostly had to battle Joss Kerr and Adam Melling but got into Quarter finals with over 1 point difference.  

At Quarter Finals WSL continued to analyse the possibilities of those running up for a World Title. Fanning was still in the picture and a big time favorite. First heat up Medina took down Hobgod. Second Heat Fanning took down Slater in a fair last minute ride. Mason Ho took down Melling and in the final heat De Souza took down Josh Kerr. All heats in the Quarterfinals were won with small points mostly due to the type of waves that were breaking. Waves were uneven and messy and broke early leaving no room for barrel nor backdoors. 

At Semifinals Medina found his magical inspiration and took down Fanning which up until then was one of the favorites in the run for the World Title. Fanning´s emotional distress played out throughout the year and sure had an influence on the rider. During Pipe Fanning also received the tragic news that his big brother had passed away in his sleep. Fanning asked the press to respect the privacy and between flooded condolences geared up, heated up and went out to surf assuring that his brother would have want him to go out. 

Waves in semifinals were small and also continued to close out. Pipe riding was over but a new opportunity became open. Medina saw clearly the chance for air tricks and took his chances with the Judges who at Pipe prefer barrel riding. Medina took the wave, picked up speed went deep and then up and took to the air creating a full rotation with a goofy landing and a late pick up. The trick scored 6.50 which combined with a 4.83 was enough to take out Fanning which scored a combined 10.36. Just like that Fanning´s dream for the World Title 2015 was over -at least until next year. By winning the heat Medina not only moved on to the final of Pipe Masters but won the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. 

Adriano de Souza won the semifinals going head to head against Mason Ho -the young local which managed to enter the Pipe as a last minute replacement. Scores were low and Souza combined a total 6.83 and Mason Ho a total of 3.83 due to an interference call. With Fanning out of the picture and all other World Title contenders long left behind if Souza won the semi-finals against Mason Ho he would become the World Champion of 2015. And so that happened. Mason Ho did give in a battle having nothing to lose but Souza spirit was stronger, the ocean began to smile upon its favorite. De Souza saw opportunities throughout Pipe, first by pushing on Jamie O'Brien in his “mentoring”of Pipe, working hard all year, and like a phantom rider, doing the hard work in the back, despite not being the public's favorite De Souza claimed the World Title. 

Celebrations took to shore once de Souza rode out with a win at the semi-finals. He was carried by a flooded packed of fans to the main stage and podium without ever touching the sand. Brazilian flags were all over the Pipe Beach. All that remained was the Final of Pipe Masters and it would also be historical. 

For the first time in history two Brazilian surfers would compete at the Pipe Masters finals. “Brazil has become a super-surf-nation” WSL commentators excited stated. Before Medina and De Souza favorites for World Title and Pipe Masters would come from Hawaii, US or Australia but since Brazil took to conquering 2014 and 2015 with its impressive Brazilian Storm Riders things have changed. Medina and de Souza shared a back to back final at Pipe. Medina showed no mercy and neither did Adriano. In the end things broke out for de Souza who not only took the WSL 2015 World Title but took the Pipe Masters. De Souza combined a 14.07 and Medina an 8.50. 

De Souza rode out several waves on that final heat. When De Souza rode out this final heat the sun shined and clouds cleared out, waves broke perfect again for backdoor and barrel...open deep inside and out De Souza took the Pipe Masters.

Out of the water celebrations started again this time they would not stop for days. Adriano de Souza half body in the water waves of Pipe Hawaii held a firm grip on his tattoo and signalled it as the source of inspiration, the words that would carry him throughout an entire year of hard training, 5 am wakening, being far from family and friends and all that which comes when touring with the Elite at the WSL World Tour were the words tattooed on his arm and they read “Strength, Balance” and “Love”. De Souza in the barrel.