Who’s been barking orders today at Red Bull’s Project Air?
There is no shortage of surf talent at Project Air, nor of surf coaches on the job, getting the most from their squad.
Dan Ross is an ASP World Tour competitor and the 2009 ASP World Qualifying Series champion. Richard ‘Dog’ Marsh is a former top-10-rated professional who divides his time between France and his beloved Australia.
Together, today, it was this pair who barked orders and trained up Red Bull’s junior squad in an intensive hour that replicated the “Hell Session” of last week.
The regime included muscle-burning sprints into the surf and run/swim combos that had even the best young surfers, like Kolohe Andino and Conner Coffin, dragging their heavy legs up the sand.
For guys like 20-year-old Wiggolly Dantas, the lean, Brazilian fighting machine who currently sits in the top three on the Qualifying Series, the workout was second nature.
“It was fine – no problem,” remarked Wiggolly after it was all done.
It’s no surprise. Wiggolly has a personal trainer when he’s in France and spends months in Hawaii each year at the ‘Boar’s Nest’, the colloquially-named training site for some of surfing’s heaviest hitters.
Kai Lenny, 17 and from Maui, also found the training fairly easy going. Kai trains every week at home and is a bit of a freak when it comes to mixing it up in the water. He competes on the kitesurfing and stand-up paddleboard tours. For Kai, competitive surfing and fitness are just all familiar pieces of the puzzle. So, how did he go today?
“It was good when it was done,” he joked.
The team atmosphere is in effect too – it’s not about breaking spirits at Project Air, it’s about the camaraderie, education and spreading the love. It’s also about skateboarding (see above).
Skate-rat Curren Caples got a roasting from Evan Geiselman for not taking part: “You’re getting snaked every wave from now on, grom!”
Evan’s joking, of course, but you never know. Maybe when the swell kicks tomorrow, he might steal at least one wave!
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