Medina interference WSL

[BaNZ]

https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/4 ... nce-update

Medina is no doubt one of the best surfer currently but he is seriously an asshole. I really doubt that he didn't hear the judge or see the priority flag. Especially when both surfers probably couldn't see each other when they paddled back up to the line up. How would he know that he finished paddling before Caio. By posting it on his instagram and making a huge deal out if it, Caio is suffering from bulling and death threats which can potentially destroy the guys career.

I always hear people defending Medina saying he is young and he is just trying to be the best. He isn't young, he is 25 and should be mature enough to handle this.

They need to change the rules. Medina always try and block other surfers during a competition when he has priority. Many times he doesn't even finish surfing the waves. I know he isn't the only one that does it but this xxxxx is ugly.

[IanCaio]

I agree that Caio has taken some undeserved heat because of the situation, he shouldn't have to go through this, but that's because there are some dumb people watching competitive surfing, specially with its growing popularity (I probably said already I'm not a fan of competitive surfing right?). Apparently things are cooling down, and you can see people are being more understanding of his position as well, of a surfer that just followed what he saw on the priority board and was fighting to revert the score.

I don't think attacking Medina is the way to go though.. I disagree with some things he did in the past, but I didn't see any attacks towards Caio on his post explaining the interference. He just explained himself, people were confused on why he paddled for that wave so he showed his side. There wasn't any posts or complaints on his page after his protest was overruled, so I think he handled the situation well (some fans didn't).

Now about the interference itself, in my opinion, Medina should have gotten priority: Caio sits on the board, but it didn't look like he was on the outside already. However, Medina should have looked at the board to check first. Waters under the bridge, his focus should be on Pipe now.

And yeah, I don't like the priority blocking too, but I can't really think of a practical rule to stop it right now, they should put some thought to it

[steveylang]

They need to change the rules. Medina always try and block other surfers during a competition when he has priority. Many times he doesn't even finish surfing the waves. I know he isn't the only one that does it but this xxxxx is ugly.

Using priority to your advantage is part of the gamesmanship in surfing, I think all competitive surfers are aware of it and use it to varying extent. I think any more rules about that requires judges to mind read a surfer's intent (are they only taking off on the wave to take advantage of their priority?), which is only going to make things more complicated (and lead to other types of gamesmanship.)

The problem here is that Medina thought he had priority and didn't look to shore to confirm this. Had he just checked, he would have passed on the wave and easily won the heat. He actually didn't need to surf another wave, he just need to NOT surf that one.

I know he really complained about it afterwards, did he saying anything one way or the other about Caio? I think if Medina was going to raise a lot of attention he could have made it explicitly clear that he was not complaining about Caio, in try to ward off any potential backlash. He's a big enough celebrity that he probably would be aware of this.

[oldmansurfer]

They need to have rules to make things fair. One of them is interference. People get too caught up in personalities. Those are completely unimportant it's the rules that matter. I'm not sure I would want to know any of them in real life but they are still great surfers and have to follow the rules. Perhaps Medina is a bit of a hot head, too aggressive which can lead to trouble if he doesn't keep track of priority. Oh well better check on priority the next time! In a way I can see that it is very important for Gabe but hopefully he will learn to check the priority flags before getting aggressive with another contestant especially considering he was so far ahead and the title was on the line .It's the rules. He will probably win the world title anyway but it's out of his hands for now.

[waikikikichan]

First, I not a fan of Medina ( or his priority blocking ) , but he deserved and earned his world title last year.

I feel the priority judge did screw up, but you can file a complaint after. Say your watch says one minute left in the heat, but the announcer says 30 seconds and the horn blows after 30 seconds. You can’t keep surfing another wave just because you say your watch is right and theirs isn’t.

[oldmansurfer]

Fortunately every thing is videoed so when a complaint is filed they can go back and look at the tapes and figure out who was right. They did that in this case and the original priority was correct so that is why no surf off. Perhaps the priority is difficult to ascertain because there is a wide area that contestants can go and this is what confused Medina because Caio paddled out to a different break and then paddled over by Gabe. This is maybe why Gabe thought he had priority but all the same, the judges had announced the priority and the flags were up to indicate priority so he should have had a clue.

[Tudeo]

Why don't they simply use Surfers Etiquette for rules? It would make the contest action look more like.., well, surfing. And maybe recreational surfers watching the pro's would get more into the etiquette themselfs..?

[IanCaio]

Why don't they simply use Surfers Etiquette for rules? It would make the contest action look more like.., well, surfing. And maybe recreational surfers watching the pro's would get more into the etiquette themselfs..?

I think the problem is when the break has very well defined peaks, like a point break, or say there's an A-frame wave and one of the surfers decides to backdoor

[Oldie]

I am just puzzled. Medina is so often involved in these situations, and still always people find excuses for him. It is possible to be World Champion while showing respect for rules, other people and decency...

[oldmansurfer]

Why don't they simply use Surfers Etiquette for rules? It would make the contest action look more like.., well, surfing. And maybe recreational surfers watching the pro's would get more into the etiquette themselfs..?

I think the problem is when the break has very well defined peaks, like a point break, or say there's an A-frame wave and one of the surfers decides to backdoor

There are lots of reasons why that doesn't work. For one other situation is when the contest starts surfers will sometimes try to out position each other deeper and deeper into the lineup to where no one can catch a wave. This could go on forever but once someone catches a wave and priority is assigned then it all changes and surfers quit jockeying for position. I think the surfers themselves like the priority rules perhaps even Medina except when it interferes with his world title hopes. Perhaps they should have priority judges at the local breaks so we can know who has a right to the next wave.

[IanCaio]

I am just puzzled. Medina is so often involved in these situations, and still always people find excuses for him. It is possible to be World Champion while showing respect for rules, other people and decency...

As I said, I don't agree with some things he done in the past, not here to idolize anyone, but some people already have a negative impression of him that stuck. That interview happened more than 4 years ago, I'm not really wired to the tour, but from what I've seem he has been learning to deal with this kind of situation much better.

[oldmansurfer]

This is an example of a wave that would make it difficult to determine priority because there is a long area to takeoff and the wave is long and difficult to make. In real life it is probably difficult to determine using whatever rules the surfers have at least sometimes it would be. They don't have WCT or QS contests here because as nice as the wave looks in this video it's rarely like this but just an illustration of the difficulties in determining priority ........ well okay so I just wanted an excuse to post this video

[Tudeo]

I think the problem is when the break has very well defined peaks, like a point break, or say there's an A-frame wave and one of the surfers decides to backdoor

Do you mean that sometimes Surfer's Etiquette isn't clear enough to determine priority?
Yes, I can imagine organisers of surf contest looking for an easier way, a more clear way, to settle priority. But for me, I would like those situations discussed on the highest platform, like the pro contests. It would make all surfers so much more aware of proper etiquette and it's importance.

Also for me, positioning for the wave and dealing with other surfers, is just as interesting to see as riding the wave. To be honest I think pro surfing is a bit boring, too repetitive.

For one other situation is when the contest starts surfers will sometimes try to out position each other deeper and deeper into the lineup to where no one can catch a wave.

Yes, I can see the problem with that. But like I said, for me that's a very interesting part of surfing. Probably because I often surf in crowded situations, so I'm always looking around how to deal with it. And often there are situations that keep me thinking afterwards, how to have best dealt with it.

well okay so I just wanted an excuse to post this video

Wow, that's a fast wave! Crazy to see all those drop-ins, but sometimes the drop-in is just right, when the inside guy('s..) can't make it or fall of. Incredible how narrow the margin between a good and a bad drop-in.
That kind of underscores the importance ánd difficulty to do proper etiquette.

[billie_morini]

Medina has tremendous talent. But, he also has some underhanded ideas about how to compete. If this situation occurred with me when I was young, I'd have pummeled him on the beach following the season.

[oldmansurfer]

I think the pros don't want to paddle battle and would rather spend their time surfing. But they need to remember to look at the priority flags. Whatever is the reality of Medina's personality he is still a great surfer, 2 time world champion and maybe going to be 3 time this year. One thing I know is that every single one of the surfers on the World tour are different from the rest of surfers because they find a reason or need to be the best in these contests. It's likely that every single one of them has some major personality defect that drive them to be great but at the same time may not make them the best person to hang out with unless you are willing to deal with that. I am just glad I get to watch them surf over the internet (though in my imagination I think maybe Johanne Defay would be fun to hang out with.)

[oldmansurfer]

That last bit seems a bit off color but really what I was trying to say is that she seems like a nice person of course I could be wrong.

[kookRachelle]

off topic, kinda but I loathe Medina, no matter how talented he is. He's a right wing idiot too. I heard he's a Bolsonaro supporter - anyone know if this is true? Just icing on the cake.

[billie_morini]

off topic, kinda but I loathe Medina, no matter how talented he is. He's a right wing idiot too. I heard he's a Bolsonaro supporter - anyone know if this is true? Just icing on the cake.

Hold on! You, Rachelle, are not only accused, but demonstrably attempting a thread high jack!
To the hoosegow you must go!

[waikikikichan]

He's a right wing idiot too.

Let's keep politics out of this forum. I surf to leave that stuff on the beach.

[jaffa1949]

He's a right wing idiot too.

Let's keep politics out of this forum. I surf to leave that stuff on the beach.

Agreed let’s leave nothing on the beach other than footprints!