Vitor Oliveira

Believe it or not, many places describe themselves as "the birthplace of surfing." The thing is, they aren't all making the same claim. Some mean the birthplace of surfing itself; others mean the birthplace of modern surfing, the birthplace of surfing in a particular country, or simply the place where surfing culture began locally. The truth is there is no universally accepted single birthplace of surfing. Surprised? Don't be. Sadly, or maybe not, historians have never found the necessary proof that this or that place holds that grand honor. The historical picture is actually pretty much complicated. All research, academic review, and studies lead to an inconclusive conclusion. No one knows where the act of riding a wave and standing up began, or why it happened. We have hints, some more solid than others. And they all leave a glimpse of imagination for those curious and interested in the genesis of such a magical, spiritual, and entertaining practice. Some eve...

Vanity is depicted as one of humanity's original sins in the Garden of Eden because of pride and self-importance. And there is a reason why. It's because it's deeply rooted in our nature. Interestingly, surfing exposes all the elements of vanity very well. In other words, there's a lot to explore in order to show off. Every surfer has their own style, wave-reading skills, power, commitment, aerial and barrel-riding talent, consistency, creativity, and aura. You can build all of this over time, with the help of modern tools like social media and video content. You cannot be immune to the waves of a core lord who knows what they're doing; it's too much in-your-face to ignore. The concept of a core lord is not new, even though it has been in the mouth of (too) many surf fans lately. However, it's interesting to get deeper into why these nearly untouchable maestros of the waves seem to attract so many people. What are the many faces of a core lord? The ...

The pop culture industry has thoroughly explored the semiotics of surfing. And in comics, we can easily find these appropriations in more or less literal ways. Waverider is one of those comic book characters whose name tells you almost everything you need to know. But it can also be misleading. In other words, he is a surfer, but there is no ocean beneath his feet. How could that be? Created by writer Archie Goodwin and artist Dan Jurgens, Waverider first appeared in DC Comics' "Armageddon 2001," issue #1, in May 1991. His real name is Matthew Ryder, a scientist who lives in a possible future where Earth has fallen under the rule of a powerful figure known as Monarch. Ryder wants to stop that future before it happens. His solution is suitably (comic-book) strange: he volunteers for an experiment involving time travel and enters the timestream. He doesn't come back the same man, though. Shall we see how this unexpectedly different surfer comes to life? Riding...

Ben Gravy had already seen what a ferry could do. What he had not seen was a ferry wake that looked like a wave pool barrel. The New Jersey surfer and YouTuber has spent years searching for waves that most surfers would never think to surf. River waves , tidal bores , boat wakes, and other unusual forms of moving water have become part of his surfing world. We could very well say he is the master and guru of all weird and unexpected waves . But the wave he found in Nova Scotia pushed the idea of ferry surfing into a different category. The field of tube-riding boat-generated wakes. It was not simply another wave created by a passing boat. At its best, it was a long, fast, and hollow wave that produced barrels Gravy described as reaching six feet. And getting one was far from easy. The story began with a ferry. Yes, as it usually starts every Ben Gravy story. A wave hiding behind The CAT Gravy and his crew traveled from the northeastern United States to Nova Scotia to chase a ...

Several studies have shown that surfing can heal and greatly improve mental health. That we already knew. But there's a new update: we might not necessarily need beaches to get similar results. A study led by Tim Trythall, impact and research manager at The Wave Project, found that surf therapy doesn't necessarily need an ocean beach to produce positive results. The evaluation followed 360 young people through six-week surf therapy programs. A total of 302 took part at beaches, while 58 surfed at inland wave pools near Bristol and Edinburgh. Both groups improved on every measure recorded before and after the program across all five outcomes, with remarkably similar improvements. The ocean produced the bigger wellbeing increase The biggest difference appeared in the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, a measure that scores emotional wellbeing from 0 to 100. The average beach score rose from 56.4 to 76.5, an increase of 20.1 points. The wave pool group started higher, at 62.5, and fi...

If you're not a regular cold water surfer, you'd agree there is usually nothing pleasant about the first few seconds. You have pulled on your wetsuit, walked across the sand, and reached the shoreline. The first wave runs over your feet, and your body reacts before your mind has had time to negotiate. Your breathing changes, your heart beats faster, and, for a moment, walking into the ocean can feel like a bad decision. "What am I doing here? My hands, my feet, and my forehead are freezing," one might say to themselves. A few minutes later, the experience can be completely different. You are paddling, catching waves, and paying attention to the ocean's rhythm. The cold is still there, but it no longer feels like the main event. Congrats - the change is (partly) physiological. Cold water produces an immediate stress response, while repeated exposure can help the body become better adapted to the stimulus. Exercise, concentration, and the anticipation of cat...

Nicolas Lamoureux is an active 31-year-old surfer and skier like anyone else. The only difference is that he has lived with a slow heartbeat his entire life, and he has relied on a pacemaker to keep his heart going since the age of 4. However, during a competitive hike up Aspen's Highlands Bowl, he was so short of breath that he knew something was wrong. A wire from his previous pacemaker had mangled a heart valve, which caused a severe leakage and required urgent open-heart surgery, as well as a pacemaker replacement. Refusing to settle for a traditional - or "old school," as he calls it pacemaker that could cause additional complications and hinder his passions, his research led him to a dual-chamber leadless pacemaker that is placed inside the heart and has no wires. Since receiving the minimally invasive implant procedure in July 2025, Nicolas' recovery was remarkable: he was discharged the same day and attended a wedding that evening. Although there may not ...

Oceanographers, scientists, wave pool developers, and surfers at large, rejoice. A mathematical breakthrough involving the Navier-Stokes equations could eventually have a great surf-related impact. It could help scientists understand fluid motion at a deeper level, improve the way complex flows are modeled, and perhaps influence technologies that deliberately create waves. That includes wave pools. Interesting, right? OpenAI announced on September 8 that an internal AI system had produced a proof addressing the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem, one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems. According to OpenAI, the proof shows that a three-dimensional incompressible fluid can develop a singularity in finite time. The company has released a mathematical write-up and a formalization of the proof in Lean. There was controversy around the milestone, however. Mathematicians Tristan Buckmaster and Levent Alpöge were developing related AI-assisted work and had shared some of...

The swash and backwash are two dangerous forces that people tend to downplay while enjoying a day at the beach. Sometimes, you've got to experience it in person to understand and witness the power of the ocean (and Nature) in the smallest of things. It was just another gorgeous, windless September afternoon at the beach. Everything seemed perfect, except for the extremely high tide, which was preventing me from paddling out, courtesy of the new moon. The glorious 14-second groundswell was beautiful to watch. Trains of waves were arriving, full of energy, and unleashing their power on the inclined and steep shorebreak. We're talking about glassy, six-to-ten-foot faces detonating on the sloped sands and raising the breaking wave another five feet of whitewater up in the air. Nature was putting on a show for me, as I stood just on my beach towel a couple of meters up the high tide line. When I arrived, you were allowed to dip in the water, but soon the lifeguard made the r...