Portugal’s pro surfers experienced a bit of mixed luck at the Quicksilver Pro Gulf Coast surfing competition over the weekend.
The Pro Gulf Coast, which took place at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, saw Tiago Pires eliminated in the second round by Australian Bede Durbidge.
From bettor.com:
Tiago Pires, photo by surfglassy (Flickr CC)
Squaring off with Pires in the 11th heat of Round 2, Durbidge got down to business right away and collected a 6.83 off his first business-wave. He later added an additional 6.70 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 13.53 points.
In other news from the competition, Portugal’s Miguel Pupo (who may actually be Brazilian) knocked off Australian favorite and two-time world champion Mick Fanning. Read more about Pupo’s stunning upset and view a video of some of the highlights from this year’s Quicksilver Pro Gulf Coast surf competition on Adelaide Now.
Meanwhile, across the world in another member nation of the Commonwealth, a Portuguese surfer is winter surfing on Lake Ontario in Canada.
Edgar Mendes grew up surfing in Portugal, but now lives in Toronto, where he has traded sun for cold and ocean for lake. But surfing is surfing, no matter what the temperatures.
From an article in Torontoist:
Today, he’s reconnected with this unfulfilled boyhood desire. In the process, he’s introduced the sport to his nine year old daughter, Scarlett Rose-Mendes. Currently, the grommet’s surfing is limited to summer swells—Mendes said Scarlett’s mother has some trepidation about permitting the nine year old to winter surf.
