• Brasilians Lima and Weston-Webb Though to Round of 16
• World Champions Find Early Success, De Souza Returns from Injury
• World Title Contenders Adance in Saquarema

The Brasilians competing at the Oi Rio Pro make up one-third of the represented athletes and the largest national contingent in this event. Today marked a strong start for the Brasilians in their home country with 13 out of 17 competitors advancing to Round 3. Silvana Lima, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Gabriel Medina, Yago Dora, Jadson Andre, Adriano de Souza, Filipe Toledo, Italo Ferreira, Deivid Silva, Caio Ibelli, Willian Cardoso, Michael Rodrigues, and Jesse Mendes will all advance to Round 3. Peterson Crisanto, Mateus Herdy, Alex Ribeiro, and Taina Hinckel will have to battle out of the Elimination Round to avoid an early exit.

“There were a lot of nerves for me and I’m sure for everyone that was watching,” said Lima. “You get those butterflies in your stomach and you hear that voice in your head saying ‘Go Silvana.’ Everyone feels pressure, so it’s important to stay calm, focused, and when the opportunity shows up, you need to give it your all. I’m stoked to advance in first place and I’m thankful to everyone for all the energy and support.”

“It’s great to get that one out of the way, there are always some first-heat jitters, especially out here where the waves were breaking all over the place,” said Moore. “I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, but I’m happy everything worked out. It feels super good to get some good scores because I’ve actually struggled these past two years, so it was nice to start off really strong. I made a podium finish a while ago at Barra, so it would be great to make the Final here this year.”

“I am stoked to get that one,” said Ho. “These rounds are to be able to feel your board and see how you are surfing and I knew I was surfing alright, so I just wanted to get a good wave and had to be calm. It feels good here in Saqurema. There is a lot of ocean and you can ride board, you know you can ride a round-tail, and feel really good. I love it here.”

“It feels great to surf a left, just to break the monotony of only surfing rights on Tour,” said Medina. “We don’t really have any lefts, just Teahupo’o, but that’s a barreling wave, so as high-performance goes, it’s really only Saquarema. I love surfing when there are a lot of people watching. Surfing has grown so popular in our country these last few years and I feel blessed to have so much support and feel loved by so many fans. It’s so gratifying.”

“It is tough out there,” said Slater. “It is so bumpy and backwashy because the current is going one way and the chop is going the other way and there is a rip that’s going out to sea and the whole energy of the ocean is going down the beach, so it was tricky. You can’t take the first wave of the set and wait for the whitewash to clean up the set. It feels good to be back in Brasil, but it’s a little intimidating, there are some crazy crowds here, but I had some fun.”

Jeep Frontrunner John John Florence (HAW) will also advance straight to the Round of 32 after sending wildcard Alex Ribeiro (BRA) to the Elimination Round and beating injury replacement Caio Ibelli (BRA). Florence posted a 7.50 and a 6.17 and is off to a good start for a third event win in Brasil.

Watch Florence’s Seeding Round interview.

Caroline Marks (USA), current World No. 2, will also advance to Round 3 after defeating rookie Macy Callaghan (AUS) in second and Van Dijk in third.

Watch Marks’ full Seeding Round interview.

Filipe Toledo (BRA), defending event winner, had the chance to showcase his big backside carves in the beach break conditions. His efforts earned him an excellent 8.00 with a 5.97 back-up to advance ahead of injury replacement Frederico Morais (PRT) and World No. 31 Sebastian Zietz (HAW).

“While Brasil is where we most want to compete, it’s also where we have the most obligations out of the water,” Toledo said. “But that’s normal, we’re only here for one week out of the year and we want to give back as much as we can to our fans, the media and everything else. But we try to do everything before the event so we can be one-hundred percent focused during the competition.”

In a rare draw, the only three French male surfers on Tour – Jeremy Flores, Michel Bourez, and Joan Duru – were all seeded into the same heat to close out men’s Round 1. Bourez captured the win with Duru in second. Flores will face 2018 event runner-up Wade Carmichael (AUS) and Jack Freestone (AUS)in the next elimination round.

Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), current World No. 4, will also move into the Round of 32 after defeating Brasilians Jadson Andre and Peterson Crisanto in the opening heat of the the men’s Seeding Round. Current World No. 5 Jordy Smith (ZAF)will have an opportunity to battle back when he surfs again in the Elimination Round 2 (Heat 2) against Buchan and wildcard Herdy.

World No. 3 Italo Ferreira (BRA) also found his rhythm in his opening heat and will move into the Round of 32, but No. 2 Kolohe Andino (USA) will come up against Zietz and Ribeiro in Heat 1 of the Elimination Round after losing in Round 1.

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.

Oi Rio Pro Men’s Elimination Round (Round 2) Matchups:
Heat 1: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Mateus Herdy (BRA)
Heat 3: Conner Coffin (USA) vs. Peterson Crisanto (BRA) vs. Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Wade Carmichael (AUS) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS)

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.