We keep on asking ourselves where is our sport going, and the answers are usually things like ‘in the air’ or ‘towards full-blown professionalism’ or ‘away from Rio,’ but these don't really answer the question. Maybe our sport is simply going to move away from the coast.
I know a lot of people who are now very scared of sharks. They are so scared in fact, that many of them are surfing less and less, and are encouraging their kids to participate in more land-based sports. It’s a terrible situation to be. They go down to the beach, and they have a look, and there are some waves around. Then they look a bit further into it, and the water is a little bit grey, there are some birds squawking around, attracted to something in the water, and suddenly there are better things to do than go for a surf. With the current situation getting tense in West Australia and the harrowing recent attack in Reunion where a surfer lost an arm and a foot, it’s kind of understandable. Quite simply, it’s unpleasant to surf when you’re scared.
For others, particularly in locations that don’t see too many shark attacks, the crowd situation is totally out of control to such an extent that some waves have become pretty much dysfunctional, and there are so many surfers couldn't be fussed to fight for waves. Many of these are older surfers who are no longer fit and competent, and who prefer surfing for fun than hussling and competing for waves. They lament the old days, and are no longer in the system, becoming weekend warriors at best, and even then only paddling out when there are very few people around. Surf rage is not lowing down despite litigation, and who really wants to send their kids out into an aggressive, testosterone-fuelled anger zone where the chances of getting ridden over or hurt are higher than getting a few good rides. It’s a difficult decision to make at times.
Then along come the Wave Pools, in various shapes and forms. From the wave garden, to various other versions, all the way to the crème de la crème and the Kelly Slater Wave Pool
The rise of wave pools is continuing with a pool destined for Perth, and World Surf League owning the KS Wave Company technology. It’s great. It’s exciting. Who doesn’t want to get barreled for 40 seconds? It’s a controlled environment, with identical waves reeling along a concrete bottom, allowing surfers to either dial in all their moves on one wave, or for non-competitive surfers to feel the glide unperturbed about possible drop-ins, snaking and getting ridden over. Also, it’s a civilized system of taking it in turns, so that everyone gets a chance to ride, and little whippersnappers or pro surfers do not get priority, not can they assume entitlement. Everyone who pays to surf has equal opportunity. So you might not get as many waves as you could get in the ocean, but you get enough, and they’re all yours.
With surfing joining the Olympics in 202, and all sorts of rumours and gossip surrounding this scenario, there are some things that are going to happen. While the competition is confirmed to be in the ocean, Olympic teams are going to need to get their surfing to Olympic standards, and to train and get to that level of expertise it will be good to train at a location that doesn’t have sharks, or crowds, and where the waves are identical. Yep, I’ve just described a wave pool. There will be a rise of wave pool construction as countries the world over start preparing in earnest for the Olympic Games.
If you lived in a zone that had reasonably good waves in the ocean, as well as a high risk of shark attacks, but there was also a KS Wave Pool a little way inland from your hood, where would you choose to go surf? It’s not quite the tipping point for our sport moving away from the ocean, but it is a fair question.
Surfing Life Australia's Trip to Ocean Dome Wave Pool from Surf Park Central on Vimeo.
GLOBE'S ELECTRIC BLUE HEAVEN from GLOBE on Vimeo.
