Technical Issues Solved On Day 2 At The 2024 ISA World Surfing Games?
A Rundown On What Day 2 Of Competition Brought Us
Is Surf Triage…Influential?
Doubtful.
But, if we're being honest here, some adjustments made today by the ISA certainly raise an eyebrow.
You may remember that in yesterday’s article titled, “Technical Issues Plague Day 1 At The 2024 ISA World Surfing Games”, we covered the unpleasant experience of viewing the ISA’s formerly dreadful “Podium 2” webcast.
Well, suddenly today it wasn’t quite so dreadful.
It’s very likely however that it wasn’t our critique that prompted this.
As covered yesterday, ISA’s poor quality Podium 2 webcast likely prompted widespread displeasure, not just ours, so I do imagine that many people complained.
That seems more logical than assuming our little ol' largely unknown publication had any influence, though we'll probably never know for sure—and we're totally fine with that. What’s more important is that fans, family, and friends can watch their favorite surfers give it their all to live out their Olympic dreams.
I am a little bit curious about one thing though…
As you can see above the ISA added a message to their much improved Podium 2 broadcast today.
It reads:
“THE PODIUM 2 LIVE FEED IS FOR JUDGES REPLAY PURPOSES AND NOT INTENDED TO BE THE FULL ISA BROADCAST.”
What this leaves me curious about is that if you read yesterday’s article then you already know one of our complaints about the Podium 2 webcast from last year and yesterday was that it often had the camera focused on empty ocean.
So as you can imagine I’m just left wondering how on Earth the judges were using the Podium 2 webcast for replay purposes last year? And again for Day 1 of competition this year?
Especially since the “replays” would often show nothing but water?
Lots and lots of water, yes, but little to no surfing or surfers.
Strange.
What I hope is not happening is that I’m totally wrong that ISA made an effort today to fix their ongoing Podium 2 webcast issues but I could be if their only purpose was to “care about it” only on days when the men are surfing the Podium 2 non-main round for the day.
This is certainly possible because I mainly focus on watching the women compete so I likely wouldn’t have noticed if the Podium 2 days were better during the men’s broadcasts.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for good stories, but in my humble opinion, most of the women’s side is where a real essence of the competitive spirit and compelling stories can be found so that’s what I usually watch. True emotional stories about triumph and defeat that just hit you a little differently when it’s coming from the women’s side of competition.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the men’s competition as well but when it comes to choosing which side I’m going to focus my attention on, which stories I want to immerse myself in, I think the women have the advantage. This seems to be a trend recently noticed by fans watching the WSL Championship Tour competitions at Pipeline and Sunset as well. The women are taking over!
About That Triumph And Defeat
Again, if you read the article on Day 1 then you’ll recall we discussed that the repechage round process meant no surfer was eliminated from competition yesterday.
It was a momentary reprieve however as today on Day 2 of competition the inevitable had to come. We may not enjoy the reality of competition determining winners and losers but alas that is its ultimate purpose and so it shall be. Honestly it’s how it should be.
So beginning with the repechage rounds today, any surfer that doesn’t finish in the top two of a repechage heat is eliminated from competition. Sad but true. And necessary.
You may also remember that I offered some consolation in the event that your favorite surfer may have been relegated to the repechage rounds citing the example Erin Brooks set last year when she battled, (and I mean BATTLED), through ELEVEN grueling repechage rounds to reach the final.
Then, remarkably, once Erin reached the final, undoubtedly verging on exhaustion, she pushed world-class WSL Championship Tour surfer Tatiana Webb to her absolute limit, ultimately losing the gold medal to Tatiana by the narrowest of margins in the waning seconds of the final.
This is what I wrote last year soon after Erin won the ISA’s silver medal:
I saw someone complaining online that they thought Erin actually won the final and my response was that although it may sound cliché it somehow doesn't even seem to matter. What she accomplished can't be defined by the color of the medal placed around her neck by human hands. She transcended all of that and briefly allowed us a glimpse into some other realm where the old souls of absolute warriors and champions reside. It was special.
Check out Day 2 of competition here:
Deja Vu
So why do I mention all of this about Erin on this Day 2 evening of the ISA’s World Surfing Games?
One reason is to simply encourage you so that you may encourage others.
If your favorite surfer doesn’t fulfill their Olympic dreams this go-around, then I want you to know you should keep your chin up and never give up on them. They need you to believe in them whether they win or lose. They need to know that people truly care about them for who they are regardless of their result at a surfing competition.
And if your favorite surfer did fall into the repechage rounds then be encouraged and support them with fiery passion until the bitter end!
I will have to take my own advice and demonstrate my own resolve in this regard as my favorite surfer, exactly like last year, fell into the repechage rounds during round 2 today.
But just like last year, I truly believe that she will once again BATTLE through every single remaining repechage round all of the way to the final just like she did last year!
And if she doesn’t, I will support and believe in her just the same because a single surfing competition doesn’t ultimately define her. Her old soul and warrior spirit simply transcends all of that.
Although…I just can’t help but wonder if another puppy might do the trick?
~~~
—Nuance Wire