On the tail end of the halcyon days of the Big Three surf brands, companies continued to pump money into a perfunctory ecosystem of pro contests. Legions of stickered-up WQS warriors scrapped it out for points in an intense multi-event season. When fast fashion skewered the surf brand-dom, colorful “anti-pros” sprung up like mushrooms.
These sponsored free surfers embodied the fun-day-at-the-beach-or-wave-pool ethos of brands like CatchSurf, Lost, and Vans. Harry Bryant is the perfect foil to the serious QS warrior of that bygone era. Wave pool events like Stab High and The Nines are dissolving the three-to-the-beach QS anti-drama played out on webcasts.
So where are we now? Revelling in the style, antics and marketability of surfers like Mikey February, Holly Wawn (who loves wave pools) and Harry Bryant.
At Stab EAST this year at the Palm Springs Surf Club, Harry’s swagger was hard to miss. Air guy, party guy, Vans’ marquee rider of fun, the sunblasted Aussie shared some thoughts on wave pools with us.
Harry, how many wave pools have you surfed?
Like four or five. The first one I surfed was in Texas. Then I surfed URBNSURF in Melbourne, I’ve surfed this one here in Palm Springs, and that might be it. Yes, maybe just three.
Which one has been your favorite?
Texas for high‑performance surfing and doing airs. It’s by far the best pool. The ramp’s got a lot of power, and you can get really boosted out there. For sure. This one in Palm Springs is sick for bodyboarding. The barrel section is really good for a bodyboard. I had a really nice session today on a bodyboard out here. Great pool, I was stoked.
Would you dedicate time to practicing airs in a pool if you had the resources or opportunity?
It’s cool for body awareness and learning grabs. But for a surfer like myself, I try to hit sections in the ocean and get as high as I can. I don’t necessarily gain much from doing airs in wave pools. I’m stoked—it’s fun—but it’s novelty. Wave pools for me are a novelty. I don’t look at them in a futuristic way or as progressing my surfing. It’s just novelty and fun.
What about the future? If more wave pools open up, what do you think that means for surfing?
I don’t think it means anything if they keep them the same size. If all these two‑ to three‑foot wave pools pop up all over the world, it’s not changing anything. It’s not progressing surfing. Unless they start making them bigger so people can do more spins and get higher in the air, that’s when they’ll start progressing surfing. But right now, it’s novelty and fun. I don’t see them changing the future of surfing at all.
Have you pulled off an air in a pool that you haven’t pulled off in the ocean?
Nah. I’ve pulled off more airs in the ocean—bigger sections, more time in the air.
If you got a golden ticket to any wave pool in the world, where would you go?
That Brazil one looks nuts. The Boa Vista São Paulo one—São Paulo Surf Club. I guess you need to have residency in São Paulo to even surf it. But that pool for doing airs looks like The One.
