Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, best known for his unprecedented 11 world surfing championship wins. He is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time.
The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a reef. Pipeline is known for huge waves that break in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef, forming large, hollow, thick curls of water that surfers can tube ride. There are three reefs at Pipeline in progressively deeper water farther out to sea that activate according to the increasing size of approaching ocean swells.
The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional Surfing founded by Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick in 1976. IPS created the first world circuit of pro surfing events. In 1983 the Association of Surfing Pros took over management of the world circuit. In 2013, the ASP was acquired by ZoSea, backed by Paul Speaker, Terry Hardy, and Dirk Ziff. At the start of the 2015 season, the ASP changed its name to the World Surf League. Sophie Goldschmidt was appointed as WSL CEO on 19 July 2017. Paul Speaker had stepped down as CEO on 11 January 2017, and Dirk Ziff acted as the interim WSL CEO until Goldschmidt's appointment.
The O'Neill World Cup of Surfing is a prestigious event in professional surfing held annually at Pūpūkea on Oahu in Hawaii.
Joel Parkinson is an Australian surfer who used to compete on the WSL. After twelve years competing at the elite level on the ASP World Championship Tour, a stretch that saw him win eleven elite ASP World Title Events, plus nine additional ASP tour events, and achieve runner-up second place to the ASP World Title four times, Parkinson won the ASP World Championship Tour Surfing Title on 14 December 2012 in Hawaii at the Banzai Pipeline during the ASP World Tours' final event for 2012–the Billabong Pipeline Masters. Parkinson hung on in a back and forth battle with eleven-time ASP World Title holder, Kelly Slater, to get his first World Title, as well as go on to win the Pipeline Masters, only after Slater lost his semi-final heat to Josh Kerr, of Queensland, Australia. Parkinson beat Kerr in the finals of the event, which was his seventh top-five placing for the year, and his first event title win for 2012.
Adriano "Mineirinho" de Souza is a Brazilian professional surfer and also the 2015 WSL World Champion. He has been competing on the World Surf League Men's World Tour since 2005.
Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer, also the 2014 and 2018 WSL World Champion. Medina joined the world's elite of the World Surf League Tour in 2011, and in his rookie year he finished within the top 12 of the ASP World Tour at the age of 17. In March 2014 he won the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Media sources credit him as being the second person to have executed a maneuver called the "Backflip". Medina also became the first person ever to land this move in competition.
Ítalo Ferreira is a Brazilian professional surfer who has competed on the World Surfing League Men's Championship Tour since 2015. Ferreira won the world title in the 2019 World Surf League. He won the "Rookie of The Year" award after his 7th place finish on the 2015 WSL World Championship Tour, surpassing fellow 2015 rookies Wiggolly Dantas (15th), Keanu Asing (20th), Ricardo Christie (31st), and Matt Banting (33rd).
MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal formerly known as Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal or Rip Curl Pro Portugal is a professional surfing competition of the WSL World Tour held every year in October at the Supertubos beach in Peniche, Portugal. The event was first founded in 2009 as Rip Curl Search Portugal.
The 2019 World Surf League was the competition series hosted by the World Surf League, the global championship body for competitive surfing. The 2019 World Surf League consisted of the Championship Tour, the Qualifying Series, Big Wave Tour, Longboard Tour, Junior Tour, and other specialty tours and events such as the Vans Triple Crown.
The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2019 was the first event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place at Coolangatta in Gold Coast, Queensland, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach 2019 was the second event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 17 to 27 April in Bells Beach, Victoria, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Corona Bali Protected 2019 was the third event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 13 to 25 May in Keramas, Bali, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Margaret River Pro 2019 was the fourth event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 29 May to 4 June in Margaret River, Western Australia, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Oi Rio Pro 2019 was the fifth event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 20 to 23 June in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Corona Open J-Bay 2019 was the sixth event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 9 to 19 July at Jeffreys Bay in Eastern Cape, South Africa, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Tahiti Pro Teahupo'o 2019 was the seventh event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 24 to 29 August at Teahupo'o in Tahiti, French Polynesia, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The Quiksilver Pro France 2019 was the ninth event of the Men's Championship Tour in the 2019 World Surf League. It took place from 3 to 11 October at Capbreton, Hossegor and Seignosse in Landes, France, and was contested by 36 surfers.
The MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal 2019 is an event in the 2019 World Surf League Men's and Women's Championship Tour. This year's event marks the return of the women's competition to Peniche after 8 years without it.
The 2020-21 World Surf League is the 44th season of all iterations of the tour circuit for professional surfers. After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting international travel between and within countries namely Australia, Indonesia, Portugal and South Africa. The board changed the tour to a wraparound season of 2020-21, which allowed major changes to the tour schedule, with the Billabong Pipe Masters becoming the first round of the tour.