World Surfing Games 2024: Brian Toth recovers from food poisoning to offer Filipe Toledo tips as top seeds begin to fall on fifth competition day
Brian Toth did not let food poisoning stop him from advancing in a heat against two world champions in front of exuberant home fans, while Mexico’s Sebastian Williams applied the principles of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to measure up to Gabriel Medina’s aerial show.
Surfing
When Brian Toth woke up on the morning of his men’s round 3 heat at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, he was struggling with food poisoning and thought he wouldn’t be strong enough to surf.
A few hours later, the Puerto Rican surfer was the centre of a cheering crowd as he advanced from his round 3 heat against two-time world champions Filipe Toledo and John John Florence and was generously offering them tips on how to surf the Rastrial break.
“The yelling,” Toth told Olympics.com about the best moment from the heat. “That countdown - the 10, five, four, three, two, one - everybody yelling and erupting and then looking around at Filipe and John John just laughing, like ‘Holy moly, what? That’s some noise!’ and they’re like, ‘Ah, good job’. They’re loving it as much as I was.”
This was not the happy ending Toth envisioned when he woke up in the morning with food poisoning symptoms.
“I was a little bit weak, just puking my brains out all morning,” he said. “My coach was saying I was nervous, but I think it was food poisoning."
If Toth was nervous, it would be hard to hold that against him. His heat pitted him against two world champions as well as Tokyo 2020 Olympian Manuel Selman of Chile.
While Florence secured the win with 12.67 points, Toth was a close second, just 0.50 points behind.
The local surfer’s parents, friends and teammates erupted in loud cheers as Toth made it back to shore. Toth basked in the celebration, shaking hands and waving to the crowds, but also did not forget to give a hug to his opponent Toledo, who finished fourth and will now continue the competition through the repechage heats.
As friendly as his relationship with Toledo is, Toth admitted he was glad to take him down on the home World Surfing Games.
“It was amazing. That was my revenge on Filipe. We had our heat in El Salvador [2023 ISA World Surfing Games] and he got me on that one, so I just really wanted to get him,” Toth said. “He’s all like, ‘This wave’s tricky’, and I kind of gave him a little bit of a tip out there for his next heat.”
While the result of his heat against a reigning world champion was surprising, the celebration Toth is planning next is even more out of the ordinary.
“I’m going to go probably get an IV right now because I can’t keep anything down at the moment,” he said. “Rest up and eat well and try to get the food back into me.”
Sebastian Williams and The Art of War vs Gabriel Medina
Mexico’s Sebastian Williams produced the other major upset of the day when he jumped into the top two in the final seconds of his heat against three-time world champion Gabriel Medina and Tokyo 2020 Olympians Leonardo Fioravanti and Billy Stairmand.
Despite such an impressive line-up, Williams had no nerves going into his heat.
“They excite me,” Williams told Olympics.com about his big-name opponents. “I don’t get intimidated. For some reason, I do my best surfing under pressure and I don’t get intimidated. The stronger the opponent, the more comfortable I feel.
“It’s like Sun Tzu says in The Art of War, study your opponents, know their strengths and their weaknesses. Know your strength and your weaknesses, know the grounds. I was relying on my instinct a lot too.”
While Medina quickly soared out of reach with an impressive set of airs that earned him a 15.30 total, Williams searched for ways to surpass New Zealand and Italy’s surfers.
Stairmand made a strong bid for second place and looked secure to advance to the fourth round when Williams surprised the field with a last-minute surge to finish 4.27 points behind the Brazilian.
“I can’t even count on two hands how many heats I’ve had where I went in the last three minutes,” Williams said. “That’s just my rhythm. I don’t think it’s a good strategy, it’s not the best strategy, but it works for me. I just trust myself that as long as the timer’s still running, I can get the score.”
Williams’ teammate and defending champion Alan Cleland also remains in the running after pushing into the next repechage round along with Peru’s Olympian Miguel Tudela and Spain’s Kai Odriozola who beat Medina to the highest score of the day – 15.90 points.
Lucy Jarrard savours competitive comeback among family
On the women’s side, American Samoa’s Lucy Jarrard continued her underdog journey after advancing from her repechage heat behind Indonesia’s Jasmine Michell Studer.
Jerrard was a regular feature at surfing competitions in her school years but took a break from competition as a teenager to deal with a major house move and a grandfather’s illness.
“I missed it,” Jarrard told Olympics.com about her competitive comeback. “My dad encourages me and supports me a lot. He thinks I can be really good so he kind of pushed me to come back and do contests.”
Jarrad’s father is typically her coach, but as he could not come to Puerto Rico, her mother filled in for this role. Her sister Sive and brother Jonah also competed at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, although Lucy is the only one from the family still in contention for a medal and a Paris 2024 quota*.
“I feel really good and happy. Contests are usually harder for me because I’m just trying to get more comfortable,” said Jarrard who beat world No.2 Caity Simmers twice in her earlier heats. “It was hard to come back in after a long break, but I’m starting to relax and trust my surfing more.”
Also keeping the family dynamic going, Canada’s Olin sisters Mathea and Sanoa both advanced to the next repechage rounds.
There were some upsets as well as Costa Rica’s Leilani McGonagle beat world No.1 Molly Picklum of Australia, while Peru’s Paris 2024 hopeful Sol Aguirre outscored Olympic champion Carissa Moore.
Follow the action of the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games live from anywhere in the world on Olympics.com and the official Olympics app.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.