Tahiti’s waves are a matter of ‘life and death’ for surfing Olympics (2024)

Tahiti's Teahupo'o wave has a slew of riders for the Paris 2024 Olympics. NPR finds out why it's called one of the most dangerous waves.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

One of the events in the Summer Olympics is taking place nearly 10,000 miles from Paris. Surfing kicks off Saturday in Tahiti. And unlike other events, the start time is flexible because it depends on the waves. Garrett McNamara is a professional big-wave surfer who has spent a lot of time on the break that the Olympians will be surfing. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

GARRETT MCNAMARA: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure and an honor.

SHAPIRO: Well, tell us about this wave. What makes it so special?

MCNAMARA: It's one of the most beautiful and dangerous waves in the world. It is just life or death from start to finish, big or small. The razor-sharp coral reef is just inches below you when you fall.

SHAPIRO: Wow. Will you describe the wave for us?

MCNAMARA: Yes. OK, so it's not like other waves. Usually, you can see these giant swells on the horizon. At Teahupo'o - or we call it Teahupo'o, but surfers, for some reason, call it Chopu (ph) - the whole ocean moves forward. You don't see lines coming. If you're really skilled, then you can actually see them coming.

Once they get close to the reef, the whole bottom drops out. And the water that's on the reef in front of you sucks off the reef somewhat like a waterfall and goes down below sea level. And then the wave curls over, and the lip of the wave basically detonates on - close to dry reef.

So when you take off, it's like a air drop. You fall out of the sky into the wave, and then you got to make the bottom turn, and then to get a good score, you got to get into the barrel, which is the cylinder inside the wave that we all long for.

And then you got to get out of the barrel, which is a tough task of its own. And then at the end, right after you get out, there's a - right coming at you, the wave is coming at you, closing out. And you got to kick out before it closes out and throws you on dry reef.

SHAPIRO: Have you ever calculated it wrong? Have you ever wound up on that reef?

MCNAMARA: Oh, I've had so many horrendous wipeouts there. It's not even funny.

SHAPIRO: Oof.

MCNAMARA: Luckily - I don't know. Every time I was underwater, I'm just going, please, God, no. Please, no. And it always just - she always lets me out.

SHAPIRO: I'm curious. Surfing as an Olympic sport depends so much on factors beyond the athletes' control. When you're competing in track and field, everybody is on the same track. You don't have to hope that the track gives you a good, fast course. But when you're an Olympic surfer, you have to hope that the wave shows up that's going to give you the gold medal. So what's the forecast for Saturday looking like?

MCNAMARA: Oh, right now, we have a perfect forecast. It looks like about, I would say, 10 to maybe 15 foot faces. And Saturday and Sunday are, like, as good as it gets for the first two days of competition. Not the most tall but just perfect - but if the waves come together as they are, it's going to be the greatest show on Earth, as far as competition surfing goes.

SHAPIRO: That's professional big wave surfer Garrett McNamara. Thanks for talking to us, and enjoy the show this weekend.

MCNAMARA: All right. Aloha. Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE LIVELY ONES' "SURF RIDER")

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