Who farted?
Jack. Stop it. I didn't.
Gross.
So, do you guys wanna get on the Championship Tour eventually?
Yeah. Hope so.
Through the 2000s, surfing was booming.
The surf industry had quite substantiable growth.
I was with Quiksilver,
and I was in charge of scouting young surfers around the world.
And we were very fortunate to get these three young kids,
Kanoa Igarashi, Leo Fioravanti and Jack Robinson.
You've definitely got a chance of one of the boys to become a World Champion.
Kelly, do you like New York?
I love New York, man.
Jack, Kanoa and Leo.
Little shits, man. Yeah, I love those guys.
-So, what's the wheels doing? -Nothing.
Quiksilver appeared into my life when I was 12.
That was a huge moment.
Love it.
I was so young that I couldn't even fathom what was happening.
Yeah, it's my first trip anywhere without my parents.
And I feel more free, and I get to do whatever I want. It's pretty fun.
It's insane. I mean, we grew up together,
being little rascals and just running around, surfing.
They saw the potential, I think, in the three of us from a young age
and groomed us for the future.
If your talent's identified
and someone's convinced you can sell board shorts,
they'll sign you up at a young age.
But to really be successful, the brand wants their surfers to compete
and go on the World Tour.
I was the first who qualified.
Kanoa Igarashi, still a teenager,
and he's already made the CT tour.
Leo qualified two years after me.
This is Leo's probably best day.
When I qualified for the World Tour, it was like,
"Wow. This is what I've dreamed about my whole life."
When Jack qualified this year, it was the final piece of the puzzle.
Your 2019 Surfing Champion, Mr. Jack Robinson!
I've come up now.
We're all competing against each other. It's just a wild ride. Really is.
These kids came in in the golden era.
They had so much potential.
And then, yeah, you get onto the world stage, you get onto the World Tour,
and it's like, you know, are you that next big thing?
Now.
-Your ring got me good. -Too much, Keanu.
I had to defend myself.
Kanoa is going.
Kanoa. Kanoa.
Yes. That's good.
That's amazing, isn't it.
Of course. He's great.
My name is Kanoa Igarashi.
I'm 23 years old, and I'm a professional surfer.
Why did you name him Kanoa?
I wanted him to be a surfer
and it's a name from Hawaii.
And of course, Hawaii is a top place for surfing.
My parents are as Japanese as you can get.
My great-great-grandfather was a samurai.
My mom's side, they have a typical Japanese soba noodle restaurant in Tokyo.
My dad became a surfer in Japan.
My mom also started getting into surfing, and that's where my parents met.
And they decided they wanted to have a kid and share their passion for surfing.
And so they made this huge sacrifice of moving to California before I was born.
They wanted to give me the best opportunity possible
to be a professional surfer.
Yes, it was a really huge risk.
It was scary, wasn't it?
We had absolutely no work. We knew no one. We had no relatives here.
It was hard for them living in California. It was crazy.
They don't speak English. They're not coming from wealthy families.
Like, they were there surviving.
What they've done for me is, like, beyond words will ever describe it, I think.
The first day he got on a board
was on the day of his third birthday.
The first time he took part in a surfing competition was at the age of six.
He entered for the first time and won immediately.
Kanoa Igarashi, how'd you learn how to surf so good?
My dad, like, told me, like, "Do this and do that."
-Told you everything you needed to know? -Yeah.
Are you one of the youngest surfers in the world?
I think so.
This is a kid we're gonna hear from in the future.
Surfing was my way of fitting in.
I felt like, growing up, being an Asian in America,
you're gonna stick out no matter what, you know?
And all of a sudden, I just became the cool kid,
winning contests and doing surf contests.
All this attention.
And there was, like, seven or eight brands, like, bidding for me.
There was a moment I was like, "How can a company invest money in a 12-year-old?
This is getting really serious."
And then I just became the main source of income for the house.
And, yeah, like, I felt that.
-Is this Mom and Dad's? -No, Kanoa's. We live with Kanoa.
Yeah. Yeah, all this is Kanoa.
It's super sick.
He designed everything too. It looks pretty nice.
Yeah. It's my little oasis.
I bought my first house when I was 17, and then my mom's just, like, crying.
My mom just was like, "I never thought I'd be living in a house that's owned.
You know, I thought I'd have to rent for the rest of my life."
My biggest priority is, like, taking care of the people around me.
That's my way to give back to what they did for me.
Bon appétit.
It's delicious.
I think Kanoa has just had this pressure his whole life.
His parents had this dream. "Our son is gonna be a World Champion surfer."
Carrying your family onto the World Tour…
-Here, and then go. -Yeah. Yeah.
Carrying your country onto the World Tour…
I didn't know it was so tight.
Busy.
Yeah, there's immense pressure.
Kanoa has really become a Japanese surfing icon.
He's a style leader, in his contests,
representing Japan in surfing as a top athlete.
Although he's an athlete, people see him more like
a famous celebrity. He's a star.
You have sponsors, a whole country and fans
waking up at 4:00 in the morning to watch you compete.
You have so many people riding on you.
I have carried that weight on my shoulders my whole life.
When I win, we all win.
Like, my family wins and all the people around me.
But that means when I lose, we all lose too, you know?
-Yo, what's up? -Are you guys coming down?
Yeah, I was gonna try and surf.
Yeah, come. It's pretty fun.
All right, I'll text you.
So, Kanoa actually answered your phone call this time.
Kanoa answered my call, which is strange.
He doesn't answer or message back ever.
At what point did he stop answering his phone when you called?
He stopped answering his phone calls when he started doing good on tour.
You know, then he was too good to hang out with me.
Growing up, like, we were really competitive with each other.
He would, like, hide my wax and hide my equipment, hide my boards,
and I got my wet suit stolen when I was, like, 13.
To this day, I still think he stole it, you know.
Do you know what happened the first time I met Kanoa?
-I had a cast 'cause I broke my wrist… -Yeah.
…and he tried to take my towel off while I was getting changed,
and I open-hand-cast tried to hit him in the face.
-Sabotage his career. -That's how our friendship started.
Kanoa has been one of my best friends since then and still is, you know.
We're so close. The last few years, he's been, you know, on a higher level.
Kanoa Igarashi, he's looking for his first win of his young career.
Seeing him last year almost finish in the top five.
That was insane and very inspiring.
This kid has just been getting better and better, Joe.
Igarashi has just taken a major victory on tour
at just 21 years of age.
Now I'm trying to catch up to him 'cause he's killing it.
What a feeling.
Last season was the first year I was like,
"I'm here. Like, I'm a contender now."
Let's go! Let's go!
First win, so it's just the start of a long career, I think.
So, hats off to the kid.
Yeah, then, none of us have gotten top five in our careers yet.
You know, I was on the door af-- I got sixth last year.
I have been the closest so far, but in--
Right now, we're all fighting for that spot.
Kanoa is super close to busting into the top five
but sort of didn't have the best start to the year.
He still needs to turn it around mid-season and claw his way back.
So, I was most excited to see Jack as a rookie on tour.
But then to see his results, I was expecting so much more from him.
Bend your knees. Look at the ball. Look at your target now.
Like, he's been this person that was supposed to do so well,
and now looking at his space on tour, it's not safe.
Three. Four. Five. Six.
We're at the midway point, like, where things start to move.
Who's staying and who's going. What's gonna happen.
All right. Switch your stance.
People will come up to me, "You got a really hard task ahead," but…
to be honest, I feel great, you know. Just try and focus on it.
Ease your breathing.
Just focus on the breathing protocol, brother.
I worked really hard and don't wanna fall off.
Not thinking about that at all. Not even really letting it creep into my mind.
He's gotta pull up his socks 'cause he's looking at falling off tour.
Leo struggled at the beginning of the season.
Right now, I'm 18th in the world.
He's gotta surf to his potential.
He can't afford to have another bad result.
For the three of them, they've all got their own things to go and prove,
not only to themselves but to sponsors and to the world.
You know, there's only three events left before the end of the year.
It's time for these guys to step up, deal with the pressure
and go and put on a performance that will set them apart.
Good morning, and welcome to central California here in Lemoore
for the Jeep Surf Ranch Pro presented by Adobe.
All the pressure.
These younger names trying to really count points at this stage.
You're feeling the heat at this point of the year.
Surf Ranch is a man-made wave
that I helped create over the course of about ten years.
Hard to compare this event to anything that we see in the ocean.
We'll just tell you, it's not easy.
The idea was everyone has the same wave
to be able to show your full display and range of maneuvers.
So it's really about the skill level.
This is called the stoke machine.
Perfect waves on demand.
I was hoping Kelly doesn't win.
He's gonna smoke this heat.
-Hoping I don't win? -Yeah.
Why? Who do you want to win? Fucking Medina?
Guy's already won, like, four times this year.
Kanoa.
I'm sure they'd press a different button for you.
Are you joking? What do you mean?
In the ocean, it's head-to-head surfing.
You kinda find your own waves, you make your own opportunities.
At the Surf Ranch, being in the water on your own adds a lot of pressure.
Surfer, are you ready? Wave is launched.
Sitting in that basin and hearing that track come to life,
and you hear the 30 seconds.
CT 3, 30 seconds.
When it comes down to it and that wave comes your way, there's nowhere to hide.
Oh, my goodness!
-He was turning! -Dig!
The biggest difference for Surf Ranch is it's a leaderboard format,
so you're not actually just competing against one person,
you're competing against the whole field.
They've got to put on a performance to separate themselves from everyone else.
You know what you gotta do. Don't overthink it.
Just go in action mode, okay? Go with your instincts. You've got it.
Only eight surfers with the biggest scores get to the semifinals.
Good luck, buddy.
Glue your feet, feel your rails. Start with a bang, brother.
It brings different types of pressure
to the best surfers in the world.
Now here's Kanoa Igarashi.
He is a surfer to watch to go very far, if not win this entire contest.
Yeah, he wants to get into that top five,
he's gonna have to showcase himself at least a top-two finish.
Let's go, eh?
Lock it in, mate. You want it!
I know exactly what I need to do. I know exactly who I need to be.
And I feel confident.
Surfer, are you ready?
Wave is launched.
Here we go.
Here's our first look at Kanoa Igarashi.
You put your head down and you give it 100% into everything you do.
I just wanna honor my parents and make them proud.
They've shaped me exactly to who I am today.
Tons of speed. Big section to work with.
-Gotta make it. There it is. -Backs out in reverse.
What a great start this morning. 7.83.
Safe in the top eight.
And he moves on into the next round.
Next to hit the wave pool, Leo Fioravanti.
Come on, bud. Let's do it. Enjoy.
Every event can be the last one, so you gotta give it your all.
And getting a result here, you know, it's a dog fight right now.
And you can't leave anything out there.
Flowing down the line.
Needs to be perfect towards the end here.
A finish would be crucial.
Fioravanti now rifling up some beautiful snaps.
See, that one slight mistake and the whole wave's gone.
Those finishes at the end are gonna cost him.
Yeah, it's unfortunate. It's just not enough to get through this event.
It would've been a big score.
To go down that early, that's gonna hurt.
You gotta imagine that stings a lot for Leonardo Fioravanti.
Yeah.
Crumbled under pressure.
Fuck!
It's totally heartbreaking.
It's a ruthless world, and, of course, you think about the worst straightaway.
You think about falling off tour, losing sponsors.
You don't invest in something without wanting to see it pay off.
Major sponsors expect results.
Sometimes those expectations crumble a surfer.
I definitely don't feel like I've reached my full potential.
You gotta come back stronger and better.
You're a good enough surfer to be in the top five here.
Yeah, I am.
I'd like to see Leo become a world champion.
I think he's got it all.
He's just gotta get head down, bum up, drink a cup of cement. Yeah, toughen up.
I-I just-- I feel bad for Leo.
We're in the middle of the season. He's not having a great year.
I used to just hate seeing him succeed.
Nowadays, you know, I wanna see Leo do good.
We got to an age now where we're a little bit more mature.
Next to hit the wave pool, Jack Robinson.
Fighting to stay on the Championship Tour.
Jack was my teammate when he was ten, you know, and it was almost intimidating
to see a kid that young that confident in the water.
I like Jack so much, you know.
I wanna see him do well and be successful.
I feel like there's all this expectations and pressure
from other people and all the fans and everything.
Wave is launched.
If you start believing in the hype before you believe in yourself,
then it becomes a real problem.
He's gotta finish this wave.
He's setting things up.
This is where you get that speed burst to the final section.
Oh, what's he got for us? Dig!
The judges have really been hypercritical on finishing these waves.
-He almost had it. I'm s-- -I know.
I just get sad.
Jack Robinson gets one point.
He went down, and now he's out for this event.
So Robinson feeling, uh-- feeling the frustration.
Huge moment in the career of Jack Robinson.
Career basically on the line in order to requalify for 2022.
It's a full grind. It is a test.
You got to constantly keep picking yourself up just to stay on tour.
You want to go home?
Without all these cameras.
Okay.
For Jack, it's always been a question of,
what has been holding him back?
He's so naturally talented,
but you need to be mentally a lot tougher.
Jack is running out of time.
On tour, it's hard.
In my first year, I got ripped to shreds,
but I'm still right here in the race for the top five.
It's just, the first year is hard.
And I just hope Jack doesn't let that get to his head, you know?
I just hope he doesn't let that affect the trajectory that he's taking in his career.
Okay. Bye, guys.
Welcome back to the Jeep Surf Ranch Pro semifinals.
Only eight men left.
Coming up next, Kanoa Igarashi.
He has been on an amazing run here at the Surf Ranch.
Kanoa Igarashi knows a potential win here
could see him put himself in that final five picture.
I feel like Surf Ranch is a big opportunity for me.
I'm gonna fight until the very last second.
Whenever he's in a tight spot,
when the pressure is on and things are tough,
the power is released and I always love seeing that.
He's strong. I think he likes pressure.
Like you said to me this whole year, brother,
-you're here to be top five, top three. -Yeah.
What would they do in this situation? Yeah?
Fucking own it, right now. Own it.
Keep it up, Kanoa!
All right. Big moment for Kanoa Igarashi.
Here we go.
It's only a matter of time till Kanoa just destroys.
My life is about results and competition.
If I don't get good results, I'm not doing the right thing.
One of the only guys to risk big airs out the back,
and he goes for it.
Talk about putting it all on the line.
This young man knows what it's gonna take.
-Come on. -Keep going.
Wow!
Big slam.
Beautiful work.
You gotta be kidding me. This guy is out of his mind.
That was amazing surfing right there.
He's feeling good about that wave.
You can see a bit of a grin, so I think that he thinks he got it.
I mean, it's gonna be up to those five judges.
All right. Big moment right here for Kanoa Igarashi. Needs a 7.57.
What do you reckon it was?
-Gotta be an excellent, right? -I'm thinking mid-eights.
It's gotta be in the eights.
-That was pretty good. -Dude, that was mental.
8.93, the highest single-wave score of the semifinal.
Yes!
Only two surfers yet to go.
If I didn't get a big result here,
I was probably pretty much out of the whole top-five race.
But just like that, I'm right back in it.
Here we go. Medina up and riding.
Are you kidding me?
9.27 for Gabriel Medina. He is our new leader.
Filipe Toledo, one motion. Big finish.
Well, well, well, so Kanoa is sitting right there stressing.
Probably needed, like, a nine right there.
I think he got it.
Just like that. Filipe Toledo with a 9.57.
-That's a big score. -Wow.
Well deserved. Yeah, and that's it. So now...
Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toledo...
Into the final as Kanoa dropped to third.
I have a lot of work to do. Like, I have a lot of, like, buckling in,
and I have a lot of gritting and a lot of sleepless nights ahead of me
to get into that top five.
Kanoa Igarashi moving to number six in the world.
Just outside the cut for the Rip Curl WSL finals and the final five.
Yeah, so Kanoa did really well at the Surf Ranch,
but he's still got to just make it into that final five.
And then you have Jack Robinson and Leo Fioravanti.
These two surfers haven't lived up to their potential.
Everyone's got a chance of falling off tour.
You know, there's just, like, that knife-edge
of staying on tour, making it in the final five and then requalification.
Like, it's all just, like, within an inch of itself.
I was just so angry after Surf Ranch.
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what happened.
But on the rankings, I think I dropped five places.
The nerves, everything, all that. Didn't really manage it.
I was on the cusp of falling off the Championship Tour.
That's where I'm at.
Jack Robbo was-- Even though he was an early bloomer as a young kid,
he sort of hadn't delivered.
Yeah, he was a great free surfer,
but when it came to competition he was, in a lack of better words, pretty average.
He finally has qualified,
and now all that heart as a kid has come back, and everyone's like,
"Can he be what everyone thought he was when he was a 12-year-old?"
At the age of, what, eight, he's surfing an eight-foot slab over dry reef.
Just standing there, super comfortable.
Just, like, pulling in doing those ones.
And I go, "What?"
Psycho. No one had ever seen that before.
Like, kids usually, at that age, are just, you know-- they're surfing little beaches.
It feels like he's been a part of the world stage
in surfing for such a long time.
But at the same time, he's got all these exact same,
you know, stresses as a rookie coming on, like, the scene or the actual limelight.
"Okay, this is it. This is what I'm here for."
There's definitely more on him, for sure, because everyone expects so much.
Today's guest is someone who,
arguably more than anyone in the past two decades,
grew up under the hottest of surf-industry spotlights.
Major contracts before he was a teenager,
tutelage under the world's best surfers,
magazine covers, international travel, you name it.
And that's not easy.
Jack Robinson, 2021 CT Rookie and the hope of Western Australia on The Lineup.
Thanks for joining us today, man.
Yeah, stoked to be here.
What was the family like?
Your mom, dad. What was it like when you were younger?
This is what I did from such a young age.
I think my dad saw where it was going. I think that was his dream.
He knew that you need to put your heart into it.
-Trevor went surfing. -I think he's out there.
I caught a little wave and he was paddling back out.
And I was like, "Just missed him." So…
-It was so random. -So random.
-Pretty epic he's heading out. -Surfing heaps apparently.
-Charging when it's big too. -Really?
Yeah.
Did he want to be a professional surfer when he was younger
or was it his dream for you, or both?
I think both.
And I think that was his dream so, you know, I just took to it,
and yeah, I didn't really look back.
Maybe he wanted to do the same thing that I've done now.
He wanted to get to this point.
That's why maybe it came off as way harder than what it was supposed to.
'Cause it was, "Oh, okay. Is this your dream or is it mine?"
-It can get really tough. -Yeah, it can.
You know, when you're family, it's always--
There's no filter on anything.
He was hard, for sure.
It was never good enough for him, so I would always wanna do better.
You're good, huh?
I am good.
I know you're good. You're feeling good. Huh?
-Where's your car? -Just over there.
All right, you know I'll walk the way and have a talk, you know.
Just walk to my car.
I gotta go home.
All right.
Just get into breathing and you'll be good.
You'll be good. I know you will.
-I'm solid. I'm good. -Hey--
-Text me when you're gonna call. -I will.
-Okay. Good on ya. -No worries.
Me and my dad, we stopped traveling together.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to me.
I just wanted to change. Like, I wanted to do it myself.
It's nice to be here.
Get away from everyone.
What were they talking about in the podcast?
Talked about how me and Leo and Kanoa, like, grew up
and how there was so much pressure and all this stuff and big contracts.
And then, like, they started talking about my parents, about…
-And your dad? -Yeah.
Everyone has seen you growing up and your dad,
so they s-- they are curious.
Yeah, it's a unique situation.
Yeah.
I can't be too worried about any pressure to anyone mentally, or whatever it be.
Just gonna be in a zone where no one can get me.
I just focus on me.
And it's really hard to do that, but that's what I wanna do.
Jack had a father who was devoted to his pursuit of surfing,
and who traveled the world with Jack from the time he was pre-teen.
Now, at some point, Jack had to step away and say, "I'm my own man."
He's now in a situation where he's maybe feeling a loss of confidence.
He's had a couple of tough results.
And without his dad,
can he rely upon his own sense of resilience to deal with this rut?
Three amigos, eh?
-Get something quick, Kanoa. -Yeah.
We grew up together.
Yeah.
Constantly pushing each other.
It's pretty wild.
Let's just hope that in ten years, we're--
we're having the same conversation, drinking beers,
with a couple of World Titles and more stories to talk about.
That's pretty sick.
How long do you reckon Kelly's got left?
-One more gold medal. -No, look, he's gonna be 50?
-Fifty? -Yeah.
-How old-- Twenty-three, 23, 23? -Yeah.
He's double-- Me and you com--
-Or us-- Like, he's two and a half of us. -Pretty much. Yeah.
The thing is, he's way gnarlier than we think.
You're doubting Uncle Kel.
He's gonna hear this and smoke you in the heat.
Yeah, I wanna tell him about this when I text him.
Welcome, everybody, to Oaxaca, Mexico. Here at Barra de la Cruz
for the Corona Open Mexico presented by Quiksilver.
Stop number seven. It is crunch time.
Probably gonna be pumping the next couple days…
Hope we get some barrels.
All we've seen all morning long is stellar surfing, and guess what?
That trend is going to continue as we move through competition.
The heavyweights get through.
Kelly Slater along with Gabriel and Ítalo.
Here in the round of 32, Kolohe Andino and Kanoa Igarashi.
-You've got to go bad. You got to go big. -Yup.
Such an important moment for Igarashi being in sixth position,
one spot out of the final five.
So, he's in a must-win situation
if he wants to be a part of the Rip Curl WSL finals.
I feel good about making the top five.
I feel like I've been groomed my whole life for this moment.
This is it for me. My chance to get into that top five.
-How you doing? -Yeah.
Own it, bro.
Thirty-five-minute heat scored on their top two.
All right, here you go, samurai.
Quickly up and out is Igarashi, looking for the lead.
6.83. Kanoa in the lead.
He stayed in the pocket the whole time. We've got a heat on our hands.
Kolohe Andino with a couple of top five finishes in the world.
He can beat anyone at any time.
Nobody wants to lose this one.
Kanoa Igarashi. A huge forehand reverse
in one of the best back-and-forth battles we've seen in this event.
Important ride for Kolohe.
-Inverted upside-down finish. -You've gotta be kidding.
I wouldn't wanna be a judge right now.
This is a tough heat to score.
Come on, read the scores.
Devastating loss here for Igarashi.
He exits out here in Mexico. Finished outside the final five.
Fuck me.
That is so brutal.
Brutal.
You have a-- a lot of expectations,
you know, from sponsors, coaches, friends, family.
My parents up at 4:00 a.m. losing hair
over me competing on the other side of the ocean.
They have to swallow that up until-- Every time I lose,
I feel like I let down thousands of people.
If, from a young age, your talent's identified,
that expectation of being a World Champion is heaped upon you,
and it feels like, you know,
anything less than that is not good enough.
Are you okay?
I'm really sad.
I don't want to do it.
Everything that I've done and everything I've put into it...
like, this is what it's come to.
Like, the ups and downs are so heavy.
Like, I don't know if I want to do this anymore.
I feel like crying.
Welcome back to Barra de la Cruz, Mexico.
These are much-needed results for guys like Leonardo Fioravanti and Jack Robinson
who might not be fighting for the top-five spot at the end of the year
but definitely fighting for requalification.
When there's a lot of noise around you're like,
"The sponsors and this and that," it's really hard to just focus on you.
But I've definitely realized that's what you got to do.
You can put them to the side. I'm just working on my things, that's it.
I'm not even worried about everyone else's surfing,
whatever's going on.
I'm solely focused on what I'm doing.
I've worked hard to do it, so, you know, it's time.
It's all eyes on Jack Robinson now.
It's where he needs to really show what work he's done.
Jack Robinson.
Can't hang onto it.
I feel like once you start being yourself
and you start owning it a lot more, like, you don't care what anyone thinks,
and do what you wanna do.
You give yourself the best chance to succeed.
I'm gonna have a heart attack soon.
Robinson just goes for the grab-rail reverse.
That was a beautiful finish too.
In command of this heat.
He's got the speed for just about anything now.
Bottom turns, clean snap to float. Layback jam to finish.
An incredible last wave.
This is a big wave. Important wave for Jack Robbo.
Another opportunity on this inside section.
One of the highest single-wave scores in the entire contest.
I love the hunger that he's bringing to the table right now.
We haven't really seen this type of Jack Robinson in the Australian leg
or up at Surf Ranch.
Jack Robinson, one of the best tube riders in the world.
Robbo flies out of the barrel into a big vertical snap.
Jack Robinson, off and running into the finals.
Good job, Jack!
You're in the final!
Robinson, his personal best result.
Kind of the moment we've been waiting for all year from Jack.
-That was the heat, bro. -Fuck, that was it.
Jack knows the job isn't done yet.
Right now, we got a semifinal number two.
He'll be joined by one of these men. Leonardo Fioravanti or Deivid Silva.
A lot on the line.
Me and Leo always had good heats.
Really want to surf against him in the final.
Just over 90 seconds to go.
Fioravanti's one of those guys that has so much confidence,
he'll just wait for that wave. He's lost, though
-by that method in the past... -Yeah.
...where he's waiting for a set that never comes.
Deivid Silva. Inconsistent heat but capitalizing at the right time.
Crucial, crucial part of the score right here.
Deivid Silva just took out Leo Fioravanti here in the semifinals.
Fuck!
Everybody takes their losses different.
Because we put so much work into it, all we expect is winning.
And in surfing, no matter who you are, you lose more than you win.
Because that's just surfing.
On the positive, mate, third place is a good result. Well done.
It felt like you were surfing better than that,
but you just didn't get the opportunity, okay?
-Hey? Hey? -Yeah, I know.
-Chin up. Chin up. -Thanks, Dog.
I think what Leo's really craving on the Championship Tour
is some consistency.
He's had a yo-yo relationship with it.
This year, he proved that he can retain his position on tour.
That's gonna be a really big confidence boost.
Yeah, this year, I didn't get the results that I was looking for.
You know, I was expecting to be in the top ten,
and it just didn't happen.
And, things don't come easy,
so I just gotta, you know, suck it up and work hard for the next year.
Finally, the moment we've been waiting for.
Deivid Silva, Jack Robinson, going head-to-head for a shot
to win their first-ever Championship Tour contest.
I just want Jack to have a good result. He's been doing so bad.
Not bad, but, like, not what he expected all year,
so I think it will be so nice for him.
10:40 on the dot, we start them in.
Yeah, that's fine.
I've won every heat. Yeah, I was performing really freely, you know.
Not thinking about sponsors and this and that.
And, like, if your mind's in a good spot, then the surfing is easier.
Fuck it, be a free bird.
You know, this is where stars are made, Joe,
and you see a diamond in the rough every now and then in the rankings
where they're just able to make it happen in the last two and three events.
Robinson has the opportunity right here. Let's see what he can do.
So Robinson's trying to put up a win for requalification.
And now going to the air.
Impressive start for the Australian
to put pressure on Silva on his opening wave.
Classic, big vertical lift.
Perfect connection before it shuts down.
What a performance from Silva.
Here we go.
Beautiful barrel ride there from Jack Robinson.
He will get the air reverse.
What a combination for Jack Robinson on that last wave.
Robinson to first.
Look at how tight this heat is.
Yeah, bud.
Boy, what a moment it'll be if he wins, Joe.
And now he's 50 seconds away from winning his first CT event.
We are winning this.
Five, four, three, two, one.
And the rookie from WA has just won
his first Championship Tour event.
Jack Robinson, the champ for the Corona Open Mexico.
Yes!
This kid deserved it, Joe.
From start to finish, won every single heat he surfed.
I'm so proud of Jack.
It excites me watching him and knowing that we grew up together
and competing together.
It's like our trio, like, when one of us does good it stings a little bit,
but it's like, "Okay, yeah. If he's doing good, that means I can do good."
Yeah, Jack! Yes.
I mean, how validating is it for Jack to win that event
when it was so essential.
Yeah, Jack! Yeah!
That's just proving the theory of why we have expectations on him.
Jack, you can smile, you can celebrate,
because you are the Corona Open Mexico champion.
Congratulations.
To become a world champion,
you have to be able to deal with the spotlight
and all the pressure that comes with it.
And understand that winning is not just about being a good surfer.
You have to become mentally tougher.
Things changed a lot in the last few years.
I was getting ahead of myself with this title.
You can think you're ready sometimes, but you aren't always ready.
But now, I think I'm finding my pace.
Viva Mexico, huh?
At the end of the day,
I am strong enough and mature enough to tell myself, "Hey, you're 23 years old.
This is a marathon, not a sprint," you know?
But I'm gonna have to dig real deep next season.
I'll sacrifice everything I have to win a World Title.
Every time I came close to win a World Title, something wasn't right.
Filipe has been kind of eclipsed by his own countrymen.
Gabriel with two titles. Now Ítalo.
He'll be in their shadow until he can actually get a win.
I have a lot to prove.