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Shaun Tomson, Layne Beachley Among Legends for Azores Masters
Nicolas Leroy
For most professional athletes, retirement from competition tends to mean hanging up the clubs or the racket and effectively walking away from full-time pursuit of the sport which they spent decades mastering.
But surfing, of course, isn't like other sports. Unlike football or tennis or running, surfers can practice until they physically can't anymore -- or they can't find a longboard long enough. Add to that generally healthy lifestyles, and their levels of performance typically stay extremely high.
That's the very reason why the Azores Airlines World Masters Championships is back, for the first time since 2011, and is set to run September 18-23, on the Atlantic shores of São Miguel, Azores. The last surfers to win the event are Nathan Webster, who won the Masters division, and Iain Buchanan, in the Grand Masters.
"It's going to be a highly competitive event, all the guys are still ripping," Buchanan said. "I try to surf everyday wherever I am, I'm feeling at a good level and anyone can win on the day. It's an honor just to be invited to be in the Masters, and very special to be able to compete in the Azores, with the surfers who have shaped and created the history of our sport."
This time, most competitors will discover the picture-perfect setup of Praia de Santa Barbara, a black-sand beach on the north coast of São Miguel, set against a lush green and mountainous background.
WSL Qualifying Series events have run there for almost a decade now, and the beach has produced world-class waves on occasion, to crown some of the current Top 34 athletes on their way to surfing's biggest stage.
The biggest change this year is that the event will include a women's division. Seven-time World Champion Layne Beachley and four-time Champion Freida Zamba -- two of the most successful surfers of all-time -- are among the women invited to compete.
"I'm super excited to find out that I've been invited to surf the WSL World Masters in the Azores," Zamba said. "Sao Miguel sounds like an amazing place to hold this event and I'm looking forward to competing again."
And the men's field, you ask? Just a few standouts: Sunny Garcia, Tom Curren, Mark Occhilupo in the Masters; Shaun Tomson, Wayne Bartholomew in the Grand Masters, among others.
Check out all photos, videos, results and of course the live stream from Azores right here from September 18-23, 2018.
Shaun Tomson
1977 World Champion, Shaun Tomson delivers a full-on masterclass on Jeffreys Bay, plus Shaun breaks down all the matchups and his picks to
In a wild, 10-foot Pipe final, Shaun and his magic, Spider Murphy shape called the "Pink Banana" shattered the goofyfoot myth once and for
Stage set for epic final day in South Africa
With Founders' Cup on the horizon, here's a breakdown of each member's contribution and why they matter to the sport.
There's more to those silver trophies than blood, sweat and dreams.
Azores Airlines Women's World Masters Championship
Rob Bain, Layne Beachley, and Dave Macaulay take the Gold back home to Australia on the last day of the Azores Airlines World Masters
It was a clean sweep for the Aussies as Rob Bain, Layne Beachley, and Dave Macaulay win the Azores Airlines World Masters Championships.
O paraibano despachou Matt Hoy na sexta-feira e depois perdeu para o também australiano Dave Macaulay nas semifinais.
Top action, with one more day remaining, of the Azores Airlines World Masters Championships.
O único brasileiro na volta do Mundial Masters da WSL em Portugal ficou entre os oito melhores nas fases classificatórias.