THE glittering lights of the Olympics opening ceremony have barely been dimmed and it is into the water this morning (7am) for South African medal hope Jordy Smith and his understudy Matthew McGillivray in the surfing event.
The two surfers would have to have been supermen to attend the ceremony because the surfing takes place 17 1730km away from Paris in Tahiti. The island is part of French Polynesia and it has been chosen because it is the only place remotely French that has surfable waves.
The conditions could not be further removed from the placid seas of the Mediterranean Sea that laps the coastline of France.
The waves here in Tahiti suit anyone willing to risk their life, Smith told Independent Media with a nervous laugh. Ive been surfing Tahiti for 20 years and were talking scary waves. It is beauty and the beast out there.
To win gold, you have to put it all on the line and go for it, the 36-year-old Red Bull surfer said.
