Olympic Bound Surfers Gather in Tahiti for Preparation and Preview

As the World Surf League tour arrives in Tahiti, two top surfers, Griffin Colapinto and John John Florence, find themselves not only vying for victory but also preparing for their roles as Team USA representatives at the upcoming Olympic Games. With a keen eye on the unique waves of Teahupo'o, they are amassing knowledge that will serve them well in their quest for glory in Tokyo.

The World Surf League's global tour has brought the best surfers in the world to the pristine waters of Tahiti, French Polynesia, this week for the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro event. However, for Griffin Colapinto, the current Championship Tour leader, and John John Florence, the legendary surfer who sits just behind Colapinto in third, their minds are not solely focused on winning this week's WSL event.

Tahiti is the destination for this year's Olympic surfing competition, and both Colapinto and Florence will be representing the United States in the men's division. For Colapinto, this will be his first time donning the red, white, and blue, as the 25-year-old from San Clemente, California, finished second in the world rankings last year.

Despite his impressive ascent, Colapinto remains humble and is trying not to get caught up in the hype leading into the Olympics. However, since he is competing in Tahiti this week, he is certainly focused on the waves and breaks he will be facing months down the road.

"I think every time you get experience to surf this wave, it’s really important [to take note]," he said. "It’s a really tricky break, so the more time you have out there, the better."

Colapinto explained how the reef in Teahupo'o is "split in two," which can create some wicked breaks if surfers do not anticipate them.

"There’s like a first ledge and a second ledge," he explained. "When the waves are smaller, they break on the first ledge. But when they’re bigger, it goes out to the second ledge. It’s like you almost have to surf both sizes to learn the waves, so it’s a lot of time that needs to be put in because your positioning of where you take off depends on the size of the swell. So, it has so many different looks. That’s probably why the experience helps so much."

Florence, on the other hand, is an Olympic veteran, having finished ninth in his first time representing the U.S. in 2021 in Japan.

The two-time WSL Champion has a systematic approach to his preparation, using recorded notes to remind himself of what equipment he loves to use in certain waters. This will definitely be put into practice in Tahiti this week.

"For my little video notes that I do, I take a step back at the end of the session and it’s like, ‘OK, I rode these fins, this board, this, this and this and that worked well.’ For me, it’s so helpful to look back a year or two later and go, ‘Oh, that’s right. I was riding those fins. That was really good. Maybe I’ll go back and try that for that wave again.’ That will be a big one here with the equipment side of things, kinda noting down what’s been working, especially if we get some swell," he said.

Florence is riding high this week in Tahiti as he and his wife, Lauryn, welcomed their first child – a son named Darwin. He noted it was "definitely tough leaving home" before heading over to Tahiti, but now that he is back in "event mode," he is focused on having the best runs he can to move up those rankings in the WSL.

Colapinto and Florence will be rivals in the water in terms of wanting to walk away with victory before heading to Morocco. However, they will be teammates the next time they touch these waters, where they will certainly be sharing what they learned to hopefully come away with some hardware for the U.S. this summer.