Vitor Oliveira

Imagine enjoying a day at a wave pool like you're playing a video game in which you are one of the characters with goals and a mission. Flowstate is adding a new layer to the wave pool experience by turning every surf session into part of an ongoing game. The Australian surf technology company has launched Flowstate Game Modes, a points-based gaming platform that rewards surfers for what happens on every wave while helping surf parks encourage repeat visits.  The system is already running at URBNSURF Sydney, URBNSURF Melbourne, Atlantic Park Surf, Lost Shore, and will soon expand to SurfTown MUC before reaching more parks in Flowstate's global network. Instead of treating each booking as a standalone session, the platform connects every ride to leaderboards, achievements, seasonal competitions, and rewards. But how does this work? Every wave now earns points Flowstate's gaming engine is built on the company's artificial intelligence model, which already analyzes...

Every surfer has experienced it: you paddle out feeling either too full or completely empty. Halfway through the session, your shoulders begin to fade, your reactions slow, and every wave seems just a little harder to catch. Choosing what to eat before surfing is not only about satisfying hunger but also about giving your body the right fuel at the right time. Unlike running or cycling, surfing combines prolonged aerobic exercise with repeated bursts of high-intensity effort. A typical session can involve constant paddling, duck dives, sprinting to catch waves, quick pop-ups, and maneuvering the surf line like crazy. That means your pre-surf meal needs to deliver steady energy, support muscular endurance, avoid digestive discomfort, and leave you feeling light enough to move freely in the water. Finding that balance isn't always easy, but we've got you covered. One simple brunch checks all those boxes. It's SurferToday's recipe. SurferToday's power brunch ...

It's surprising how much professional surfing and professional tennis have in common. Both sports travel the world, both reward athletes with ranking points based on their results, both use rankings to seed competitors and determine entry into elite events, and both also rely on a development pathway that allows rising talent to earn a place among the world's best. On top of that, both sports share a similar tournament ladder format at each event that takes place in different countries with different conditions (beach, point, or reef breaks, and clay, grass, or hard courts). Yet one very important difference separates them. Tennis celebrates the player who performs best over an entire year. Surfing no longer does. That difference has become one of the biggest talking and controversial points in competitive surfing since the World Surf League (WSL) introduced the Finals format in 2021. The change created a dramatic finish to the season, but it also changed the meaning of t...

Whether you've played it or not, "TransWorld Surf" is one of the most overlooked surfing games ever made. However, it arrived at an unfortunate moment - released almost simultaneously with " Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer " - and was eventually overshadowed despite introducing several ideas that were surprisingly ambitious for 2001. Activision's heavily marketed "Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer," powered by the proven "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" engine and carrying the sport's biggest name, dominated the spotlight. Many players bought only one surfing video game, and Kelly Slater usually won.  Yet more than two decades later, "TransWorld Surf" has quietly become a cult classic. Browse online discussions among surfers and retro gamers, and a pattern quickly emerges: many believe it delivered the most authentic surfing experience of its era, alongside another one, "Sunny Garcia Surfing." Its realistic waves, fait...

Every summer, millions of people head to beaches expecting a simple promise. If something goes wrong in the water, someone will come. That someone is usually an open water lifeguard. At SurferToday.com, we have been promoting the sharing of knowledge about water safety, surf lifesaving, and surf rescue, and highlighting the importance of lifeguards in saving hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide every year. It seems that we, collectively, only realize that when someone close to us goes through a life-threatening event or worse, and eventually, during summer. So, here's what reality tells us every day, especially during the warmer months. Whether they patrol the surf at Huntington Beach, the shorebreak at Jersey beaches, or the powerful currents of the North Shore of Hawaii, open water lifeguards are often the first professionals to reach people in distress. There's basically no one else. They dive into dangerous surf, swim through rip currents, perform rescues, provi...

Fear is one of the most interesting and mysterious emotional states a human can feel, and one we all would like to tame, control, or reduce in our lives. As a surfer, the first time you paddle toward a wave that looks far bigger than anything you have surfed before, something strange happens. Your breathing changes, your heart beats faster, your hands grip the rails of your board a little tighter, and every instinct tells you to turn around. That's more or less like that, right? That feeling is fear - pure and simple. It is one of the oldest survival systems in the human body, and it exists for a simple reason. It has kept our ancestors alive for millions of years. Surfers often talk about conquering fear, but science paints a different picture. Fear is not an obstacle to eliminate. Actually, although it might sound like a paradox, we should be thankful for having it in our lives. Fear is information, and the challenge is learning how to understand it instead of letting it...

Few figures in surfing have lived a life as astonishing as Jack Roland Murphy. Better known as "Murph the Surf," Jack was an accomplished surfer, a gifted athlete, a pioneer of Florida's early surf scene, the mastermind behind one of the most famous jewel thefts in American history, and later a convicted murderer who claimed to have found redemption behind bars. His story has inspired books, documentaries, magazine features, and countless newspaper articles. It remains one of the strangest biographies ever connected to surfing, blending genuine athletic talent with crime, celebrity, violence, and religion. Resemblances with Miki Dora 's bumpy ride in life are obvious. California roots and a passion for the ocean Jack Roland Murphy was born on October 26, 1937, in Los Angeles, California. During his childhood, Murphy's family lived in Carlsbad, where he discovered surfing at a time when the sport was still a small California subculture. The equipment was no...

If you asked 100 non-surfers which season they associate with surfing, it's fair to say nearly 100 would probably say summer. There is a universe of clichés gravitating around the idea of surfing: sun, beach, warm weather and warm water, boardshorts and bikinis, tanned bodies, transparent blue water, tropical islands and settings, and perfect-peeling waves, etc. Those are valid for Hollywood movie producers and for the mainstream audience as well. But there are way more. The language, the slang, the bleach-blond hair, Hawaii, California, the surfboard with three fins, surf vans, and a long queue of semiotic icons that make this sport a rich and multidisciplinary outdoor activity. Most of the symbols of the so-called surf culture are anchored in the idea and warmth of summer. Rain and English-like weather are not the first things that come to our minds when we mention places like California and Hawaii. The same applies to surfing. Summer surfing has an obvious appeal. There...

Spray stung my face as I clung to the back of the jet ski without a sled. What do I do if I fall off now? I had no idea who was driving, but as we bounced over the big waves in Nazaré, I had a feeling I was in good hands. How did I end up here? Is this real? Adrenaline rushed through me - I couldn't believe what was happening. Back in the harbor, buzzing with the kind of happiness only a day out in the ocean can bring, I was holding a couple of wave buoys when João de Macedo grinned at me. "Do you know who that was?" he asked. "No clue," I admitted. "That was Sebastian Steudtner, the world record holder for the largest wave ever ridden , so I knew you were in good hands". A wave of... well, not quite shame, but definitely embarrassment washed over me. I had been so skeptical about him switching places with João on the ski. What did I know? I am just a wave-obsessed surfer from Sandnes, Norway, usually more concerned with deploying wave buoys t...