Rio's surfing stadium, a hyper-packed left rock point - complete with floodlights for night surfing -- in the heart of the city, just up from the famous Ipanema Beach. Brazilian surf scribe Julio Adler explains: "It really needs a strong south swell to bring lots of sand close to the rocks -- then it can work almost like a left pointbreak. It can be a hell of a wave when the bank's right, but make no mistake: it's always very tricky." CJ Hobgood has done well out here over the years and agrees. "It's a really hard wave to surf," he said. "It'd be equivalent to Rincon at Bells where the regulars have an advantage. I feel like the goofies have an advantage at Arporador -- but that's not saying I love that wave."
THE STAGE, PART TWO: Postinho (aka Barra)
Dependable, dumpy, shifty beachbreak made up of soft, thick sand. Adler explains: "It works with every swell direction, but it's better with S/SW and a bit of size. There's a slab (actually just a set of three rocks) on the outside, so when it hits the right direction and size -- over six feet -- you can take off some 20 or 30 meters outside." (Wilko did this last year.) Julian loves the place. "It's surprising how powerful the beachbreak is at Barra," he said. "I actually really enjoy the waves there. It's like a much better version of my home beach."
WHO'S HOT: Adriano de Souza
All the dozen-plus WCTers we interviewed for this piece agreed that DeSouza has an edge. Bede sums it up best: "He's going to be heading into the event full of confidence; Bells was a huge win for him and his country." Julian adds: "I'd say it's maybe his strongest event of the year. He seems to thrive off the crowd, and there's no bigger Adriano crowd than in Rio." Kelly: "He actually wants it more than anyone, I truly believe."
WHO'S WARM AS HELL, PART ONE: Filipe Toledo
The tour's youngest surfer - dude just celebrated his 18th birthday - is capable of backflips. We knew this. What he showed at Bells was that he's also capable of mixing up carves and airs against the world's best -- all the way to the quarterfinals. "Toledo, after his recent form, is one to watch," said Kelly. "And if he wins, maybe his dad will stop yelling at him so damn much in heats."
WHO'S WARM AS HELL, PART TWO: Jordy Smith
Jordy's done decently here over the years -- 9th in '12, 13th in '11, 5th in '10 - but there's also something to be said for momentum from contest to contest. And the Jordy we saw at Bells was, as Nick Carroll wrote, "more than just the overdue return to form of a great surfer." His powerful semifinal finish made us wonder where the hell he'd been - and stoked that he's back. The big Saffa's got some confidence, too. "I think Adriano's going to be tough to beat on home soil," he said. "But I'm up for the challenge."
DON'T COUNT OUT: The Rookies
Yeah, Toledo and Nat Young did well at Bells, but another thing to keep in mind is that rookies have won two of the past three events in Brazil. (John John in '12 and Jadson in '10). "The other waves on tour favor the guys who've been doing 'em for a while, but we're coming off the 'QS and we're really familiar with beachbreak," said Nat Young. CJ points out a more technical fact: "It favors airs, so that's why you see rookies doing well. Being younger, your air game is tight and your ratio at landing stuff is more just because your ligaments can absorb those hard, backwashy landings."
LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION: Raoni Monteiro
Raoni's actually the closest thing to a local this contest has. Last year, he lost his sponsor and then lost to Travis Logie in R2, lost his cool and started punching his board in the shorebreak. "That was bad behavior," he said in an ASP interview. "But I didn't think, you know? I just acted. I got really angry. Nothing was right for me." A month later, he blew out his knee at maxing Cloudbreak. But he came back hard, beating Slater in Portugal, Julian in Santa Cruz and just took out Parko in Bells. "I'd love to see Raoni do well here," Parko said. "He ripped at Bells and he just seems really hungry at the moment and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he bagged another result in Rio."
SURFLINE DARKHORSE: Owen Wright
Remember Owen Wright? Loose, fast, stylish goofyfoot? Faced Kelly in like three finals in a row? Beat him to win the Quik Pro New York? He's ranked 31st right now. Two consecutive 25ths in Australia. This is not where O belongs. "Owen is due for a result," Jordy said. And given his beachbreak strengths, this event could be Owen's 2013 coming out party -- just like Bells was for Jordy.
DISTRACTIONS: Blame it on Rio
Brazilians surf fans are passionate and knowledgeable and will come out in droves to watch the event. This is mostly rad. Though occasionally, this passionate pride can end up affecting non-Brazilians in less-than-ideal ways. "If the crowd is against you it can be very difficult," explained Taj. "With so many Brazilian surfers on tour, it's pretty distracting when you come up against someone like Gabriel or Adriano and the local crowd gets behind them," agreed Jordy. "We get boo'd from the crowd running out for our heat if we are up against one!" said Kerrzy. "It's classic!!"
ATTRACTIONS: Blame it on Rio
'Course there's a plus side to all that South American flare and intensity. "I love the way the Brazilians go and set up on the beach and it's part of their life," said Ace Buchan. "They have the coolest little beach bars with great snacks and fresh coconuts -- or caipirinhas, if that's your style. It's awesome. There's music, samba going on, the kids are everywhere, girls in tiny costumes. Great people watching!" Simpo adds: "I really do enjoy competing in front of the Brazilians, they're so knowledgeable about surfing; it makes it fun." Kelly adds: "If the Brazilians do as well as they did as a whole at Bells, get your earplugs ready 'cause the crowds will go crazy!"
JUDGING: Getting it right?
"Not exactly. I feel like it's tuning in and will really start to properly critique all details of the rides as people are less blown away by any one maneuver and become less emotional with the levels. Then you can more easily identify greatness and flaws in technique or overall ride. Surfing has advanced quickly in recent years. Now it's a time to start really smoothing all the details out for everyone. An air is not an air like a turn is not just a turn. There will start to be better overall critique, I believe, and it will translate into understandable scoring." -- Kelly Slater
BONUS HEARSAY
"There are always more variables in a place like Brazil and beachbreaks in general, so you need to be stronger mentally and be prepared to have bad freesurfs and feel out of sorts. But you need to be strong and not lose confidence when these things happen, 'cause everyone is dealing with the same thing." -- CJ Hobgood
"Everyone's got this thing in their head that there's amazing-looking women walking around in G-strings on the beach. If that's true, it may be the hardest thing to tune out. But it's pretty easy to focus for a contest, especially if there's a contest area where you can get your headphones on." -- Nat Young
"It's the kind of event that you have to be ready for anything. You need almost the same sort of quiver you would take to Europe. One heat could be barrels and the next could be airs and turns." -- Julian Wilson
"It's been a crazy couple years with the new school guys like Gabs and John approaching waves so differently, but I think the judges have adapted well and found middle ground regarding new-school maneuvers. An air has to be critical and functional to be rewarded now - and they also love to see power and rail turns." -- Jordy Smith
"It's really important (to do well here). For me, it's not an event I've traditionally done really well at, so a big result here for me would mean a lot. Making the final here last year got me on my way to the title." -- Joel Parkinson
"I think probably in Rio the random nature of the waves and the lack of really clearly defined banks challenges most guys. It's not a place where the waves are super defined. To overcome that, you either have to be really clued into what's going on with the ocean or you need to make lemonade outta lemons. To win the event you have to do both!" -- Ace Buchan
"I think the judging has been the best it has been in years. They went a little too generous on the airs and forgot about the power and rail work some people were doing. I think it's great now; they're just judging it as good surfing. I've seen nines for one huge air and nines for a couple of massive turns, so it's perfect they're rewarding guys for both. And that's what the public want to see as well." -- Bede Durbidge
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