Weston-Webb of Kaua‘i dominates world’s No. 1 surfer, advances to quarterfinals of Olympics contest

Tatiana Weston-Webb of Kaua‘i – among the top 10 woman surfers of the world, now competing in the 2024 Olympic Games – dominated Thursday, scoring a combined total of 12.34 points in the sixth heat of women’s round three.

The North Shore resident’s efforts were hailed as “the best performance of the day so far” by the Olympic Games’ official live blog. It was enough to knock the top-ranked woman surfer in the world, Caitlin Simmers of Team USA, out of the international competition: Simmers only scored a combined total of 1.93 points.

Weston-Webb linked “three powerful rail turns, sharply timed with the pocket and throwing buckets of spray over the back of the wave,” according to the Olympics blog. “It was textbook power surfing from the 28-year-old.”

Weston-Webb, although a Garden Isle resident, represents her birth country of Brazil. She was eliminated in round three when the sport made its Olympics debut in 2020.

The 28-year-old now advances to the ongoing quarterfinals, in which defending gold medalist Carissa Moore of Team USA and Hawai‘i, has already been eliminated.