Vitor Oliveira

Surfing has always had an uneven relationship with athleticism. Some world champions look like light, agile cheetahs. Others resemble bulls ready to unleash all their energy on an off-the-wall turn at J-Bay. A few have built careers on explosive power, while others seemed to glide through heats with effortless timing and technique. For decades, the sport has produced champions of different physique shapes and sizes, leaving a simple question hanging in the air. Is there such a thing as the ideal surfer body type ? Is there an ideal weight and height for surfing? Or could there be a perfectly balanced ratio between the two variables? We at SurferToday.com are obsessed with what numbers tell us, when they can. Stats can help us understand more about performance, success, and world titles. A review of height and weight data from all 43 athletes on the 2026 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour, along with measurements from 27 world champions dating back to the 1960s, offers one ...

In the 21st century, the surfing world witnessed several ways of generating a rideable wave outside the ocean. However, for decades, artificial wave technology has followed a familiar formula. Someone builds a giant pool, installs complex machinery, moves enormous volumes of water, and creates a wave where no ocean exists. A Russian company called Surfinity is taking a different path. Instead of constructing a purpose-built surf lagoon, the company has developed a system designed to turn existing lakes, reservoirs, and artificial water bodies into surf destinations. The technology relies on a moving device that generates waves as it travels across the water, creating a setup that looks less like a traditional wave pool and more like a cross between a cable park and a surfing reef. Surfinity shares a similar background with Finland's very own Artwave , one of the smartest, least expensive, most compact, and most mobile wave-generation systems on the planet. SurferToday.com te...

For years, surfers arriving at San Francisco's Ocean Beach could count on seeing Sandro Ricardo Britz in the lineup. Friends say he was the kind of person whose name came up almost anywhere along the beach. Sandro was a longtime Sunset District resident, an experienced surfer originally from Brazil, and a familiar face in one of California's most demanding surf communities. Now, the lineup is missing one of its regulars. Britz, 55, died after a rescue at Ocean Beach on May 28. His death has prompted an outpouring of grief across San Francisco's surfing community, where friends, neighbors, and fellow surfers have remembered him as a constant presence in the water and a deeply valued friend on shore. "He was a decades-long Bay Area surfer and resident," Pam Morse wrote while sharing a fundraiser for his family. "Always charging, always a light in the lineup." Distress signals in heavy surf The incident unfolded around 1:20 pm near Lincoln Way at ...

Surfers, we have a problem. Or maybe more than one, but let's address the fundamental one first. What if it's just getting so crowded at our local beaches, it's just not worth it anymore? Yes, I belong to a group of lucky surfers who live near a coastline blessed with plenty of favorable swells and quality waves. For that, I present my sincere apologies as I speak from a place of privilege. However, every coin has two sides, and despite the number of amazing waves and peaks that I can count within half an hour of driving from my flat, it's also true that most of them - over 85 percent - are crowded all year round. And by crowded, I mean counting over 30 surfers per beach break peak. You could say, "Go surfing at 7 am." I know, I've done that and... it's full of like-minded water people. "Then, do it on weekdays." True and the same apples. It's unbelievably crowded. "Have you tried surfing at dawn?" Sure thing. I did it ev...

Along Angola's Atlantic coast, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Luanda, a long arc of sand curves beneath cliffs and rocky headlands. At the southern end of the bay, a wave wraps around the point and runs for what feels like forever. Welcome to dreamy Cabo Ledo, home to Praia dos Surfistas (or Surfers' Beach), a place that has become the center of Angolan surfing and one of the most remarkable left-hand point breaks in Africa, alongside Namibia's very own Skeleton Bay . For decades, surfers have crossed continents searching for long, uncrowded waves. Many eventually hear the same name: Cabo Ledo. The appeal, you know, is easy to understand. The wave is consistent, forgiving in many conditions, and capable of producing rides that stretch hundreds of yards down the bay. Yet it remains connected to a fishing village, a beach camping culture, and a coastline that still feels far removed from the crowds that dominate many famous surf destinations. How surfing arr...

A few miles north of downtown Asheville, heavy machinery now sits in the middle of the French Broad River. Concrete forms rise from exposed bedrock. Circular walls of rock and steel push the river aside. Locals stop on bridges to stare at what looks, at first glance, like a strange industrial accident. It is actually one of the most ambitious river surfing projects ever attempted on the East Coast of the United States. The feature is called Taylor's Wave, a human-made standing wave under construction in Woodfin that is expected to draw kayakers, river surfers, boogie boarders, and freestyle paddlers from across the country. The project has been in development for nearly a decade. Engineers have modeled it in a Prague hydraulics laboratory. Environmental consultants studied fish migration routes and flood elevations. Local officials rebuilt park plans around it. The wave itself is being shaped directly into one of the oldest rivers on Earth. The goal is simple enough to expl...

Have you ever witnessed waves being created? Probably not, right? But there are simple ways to simulate ocean wave generation at home or outdoors. Here are a few methods that will impress children and adults alike. Maybe you already know that most of the water waves we see in large bodies like oceans, seas, and lakes are caused by wind or by a mechanical displacement of water generated, for instance, by a landslide or paddles installed in a wave pool. But have you ever seen the birth of a wave in a small space or controlled environment? There are many ways to explain the creation of a wave in a lab-type context to kids and to adults who have never quite understood how this magical phenomenon brings walls of water to the coastline. SurferToday.com imagined a few experiments you could set up at home or in a garden. Shall we produce a few waves? 1. Jump rope or garden hose: the classic wave demonstration A jump rope of garden hose stretched across a yard can stand in for a cross-s...