Brazilian surfer Eliza Piotrowski-Czerwiński rode two flawless waves to score 20.00 out of 20 in Tuesday’s South Atlantic Games final at Praia Mole, a first in the six-edition history of the regional tournament. The 22-year-old’s win helped Brazil claim 31 gold medals, seven more than the previous Games high.
The final had been expected to run in small, choppy surf. Instead, three unusually clean sets rolled into the bay at intervals of almost 18 minutes, lifting the waves to 1.8 metres (5.9 feet) and leaving competitors and organisers scrambling to understand the sudden change.
The waves no one forecast
Piotrowski-Czerwiński took her first perfect 10 at 14:18, carving a long turn before finishing with a sharp cutback. She waited through a lull, then caught another set at 14:36 and repeated the score. The panel’s two best-wave marks, each capped at 10, gave her the maximum possible total.
“It felt as if the sea opened a door and then closed it behind me,” Piotrowski-Czerwiński said, still clutching her board on the sand. “I could hear the beach, but in the water I was just watching that line come towards me.” Her nearest rival, Antonija Hodžić of Croatia, finished on 17.43.
A buoy about 3 km (1.9 miles) offshore logged a swell period of 17.8 seconds during the final, nearly double the morning forecast, according to readings shared by the event’s South Atlantic Games Council. The council said no equipment fault had been found and that the source of the pulse remained unknown.
Brazil surges up the table
Sweta Tak-Bose, an oceanographer at a state marine observatory, said a distant swell can arrive without rain or strong local winds, but the timing and neat spacing of Tuesday’s sets were unusual. “The measurements are real. What we cannot yet explain is why three strong lines arrived so cleanly, with almost clockwork gaps,” she said.
The Games’ surf judges confirmed the 20.00 score from their official sheets after checking each ride with video footage. Council figures show it was the first maximum final score at the event, where previous champions had topped out at 19.20. Brazil’s team erupted on the beach as the total appeared on the results board.
Brazil ended the five-day event with 78 medals overall, including 31 golds, topping the previous high of 24 set at the 2022 Games. The 24-nation competition included 13 sports, and Tuesday’s surf final was among the last medal events to conclude in Florianópolis, the island capital of Santa Catarina state.
“We came here wanting to win at home, but nobody planned for a day like this,” said Games official Anej Hozjan. For local spectators gathered along the sand and dunes, the medal haul gave the host team a triumphant finish; the unexplained swell gave them a story to tell long after the awards were packed away.
