Professional surfer Filipe Toledo struck his chest and shouted at the beach as he overcame the perfect exfoliation wave in the brilliant Brazilian sun. Growing up about 250 miles west of this beach, 27-year-old Toledo has just won the World Surf League Championship Tour event for the second time this year. His victory in Brazil’s Saquarema cemented his position as one of the world’s top-ranked male surfers, and he was one step closer to winning the men’s world championships.
Thousands of fans barked on the beach. Once again, the Brazilians were celebrating the success of Brazilian surfers, and they were under the spell of collective victory.
Until just 10 years ago, Brazil’s victory over the world’s top surfer roster would have been extraordinary. For decades, Brazilians have been vulnerable in the surfing world, with few breakout stars. But since the 1990s, the combination of two men who have created economic policies, a rich talent pool, a regional contest system, and a long-term plan to create the country’s first world champion has changed course.
Toledo first announced his intention to become a professional surfer at the age of six. Not only did he do an elite tour, he also dreamed of being with a well-known world champion like the 11th world champion American Kelly Slater. Three-time champion Mick Fanning of Australia. Known for its ability to launch, spin and seemingly easily land on the lips of the waves, Toledo had such great ambitions. The idea that Brazilians can not only qualify for the tour, but actually win the tour seems tremendous to defeat the Californians, Australians and Hawaiians who have ruled for decades. was.
Yes, young surfers were talented. Like his companions, he began participating in regional contests that helped current generations hone their skills and push each other to new heights. He also had the advantage of being coached and counseled by his father, former national surf champion Ricardo. And he won a lot. However, the distance between winning other up-and-coming players in Home Turf and consistently winning the world’s Slaters and Fannings has not yet been crossed.
Professional Brazilian surfers “did not have that much information and support,” Filipe Toledo said. “They said,’What am I doing now? Should I just train, or should I get the money I earned at the event and spend it, a big party? Should I or should I invest in travel? “
In December 2014, something unexpected happened. Gabriel Medina in the Malecias district of San Sebastian became the first Brazilian to win a world title on the Pro Tour at the age of 20. He did it on the last day of the Pipe Masters event. The North Shore of Oahu erupted. Hundreds of people rushed to bring Medina to the podium. Others sang the Brazilian national anthem. Yet others waved the flag.
For Toledo and his companions, Medina’s victory was the beginning of a change in the sea of professional surfing. After decades of pushing the edge of the sport’s upper tier, Brazil has transformed from a long shot to a global giant. Brazilians won the World Championship Tour World Title in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Last summer, Brazilian Italo Feheila won the first men’s Olympic gold medal at the Men’s Shortboard Tournament. And in late June in Saquarema, Semifinals were piled up Only Brazilians.
This generation is so dominant and undeniable that it is nicknamed the Brazilian Storm Portuguese Tempestade Brasileira.
But its successful weather system was no coincidence. It’s the result of a confluence of factors, including political change, economic policy, and decades of plans to create a reservoir of talent to back it up, as well as create the first Brazilian world champion on this tour. did. The plan went well.
Surfing has long been part of the national culture. Brazil first enjoyed the glory of surfing when Peperopez won the first event of the Championship Tier in Rio de Janeiro in 1976, when modern surf tours began.
Still, Brazil was still under dictatorship. The combination of closed economy, high travel costs and protectionist policies could hinder foreign investment and become a professional surfer. There was also a shortage of resources. Like other sports athletes, professional surfers need trainers, coaches and equipment. But unlike other sports, the field of surfing is constantly changing. To be competitive on a world tour, professional surfers need experience on different waves around the world. Especially like a heavier barrel that breaks in remote areas such as Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti and Indonesia.
That hurdle contributed not only to the skill gap between Brazilian surfers, but also to the collective inferiority complex.
Brazilian big wave surfer Carlos Burle, who grew up competing at home breaks, said that the best Brazilian surfers need enough money to travel to the best waves in the world to get a chance to be competitive. Told.
It wasn’t until the late 1980s that a handful of men broke through and gave new confidence to Brazilian surfing. Fabio Goveia, Flabio Padarats, and later Flabio’s brothers Cat and Victor Rivas were outstanding figures who not only toured the elite, but also competed with unexpected opponents.
Still, Gouveia, Padaratz, and the army of surfers they inspired, faced a torrent of political and economic turmoil. In 1985, Brazil’s 20-year dictatorship came to an end and led all the promises of young democracy. Instead, the country was pushed into a catastrophic inflation grip. For surfers like Gouveia, winning the contest was more about financial survival than professional achievement, not a world title.
In the early 1990s, things started to change. From 1993 to 1994, Brazil’s Finance Minister, Fernando Enrique Cardoso, called on a group of scholars to develop a series of stabilization policies. By the time Toledo was born, Brazil had a prosperous middle class in 1995. In the early 2000s, when Toledo and Tempestard were surfing their first contest, spending on goods and travel (such as new surfboards and tickets to Hawaii) was increasing, including the robust amateur contest circuit.
These conditions were part of what allowed surfers like Barr to climb in big wave surfing. This is a clear area of sport that also requires extensive travel. In 2009, he won the first ever Big Wave world title, breaking the Brazilian pattern. You will find that it is a prelude to what comes next.
Brazil’s new fertile economic situation has begun to attract foreign investment and business, including the growing surf industry. Cuan Petersen, then Oakley’s marketing director, was part of that wave. In Brazil, “everyone is surfing,” he added, “we could go into a surf break in the middle of where, and there would be 50 people.” Petersen has teamed up with Luiz Campos, a sports agent, marketing manager for Oakley, and the godfather of modern Brazilian surfing.
Following a playbook on how companies marketed to American and Australian surfers, Campos and Petersen created a system for developing and nurturing Brazilian surfing talent. They didn’t just want to train surfers who could compete on the world stage. They planned to create the first Brazilian World Champion on a championship tour. By the early 2000s, they were Institute Marazul, An organization specializing in sports medicine and psychology that provided medical assistance to surfers in the Oakley program. They recruited young surfers and provided physical trainers, coaches, psychologists, doctors, English lessons and media training.
The roster currently shows who the top surfers are: Adriano de Souza (2015 World Champion). Ferreira (2019 World Champion, Tokyo Gold Medalist); Toledo; In addition, surfers such as Kaio Iberi, Miguel Pupo and Jackson Andre are all on the World Championship Tour. (Toledo trained with her father and Medina trained with her stepfather, but regularly competed with the Oakley program.)
The country’s competitive aspirations have completely changed. Brazilian surfers are expected to reach the top ranks and up-and-coming Brazilians are expected to take part in the tour. Both of these expectations are met. And, in contrast to the early days of Tempestard, expectations for up-and-coming surfers are already high.
“We now understand the formula,” said Toledo, who finished second in the 2021 season, after his compatriot Medina, who won his third world championship.
Its formula, economics, opportunity, work ethic, and alchemy of expectations, is not only behind Toledo’s professional success so far, but also driving his belief that it is still possible. increase. Given the rest of his season, he has only two goals in mind.
“Enjoy the process,” he said. “And win the world title.”
After the June OiRio Pro tournament, his once lofty goal doesn’t sound like arrogance. Instead, it looks like a probability.
