Lucas Chianca’s My Last Two Winters recap is big wave surfing at its best

Lucas 'Chumbo' Chianca: Nazaré is everything. It’s my second home. I’m from Saquarema, Brazil, but when I come here, I’m just as comfortable. I feel safe here, blessed. It’s the best wave for me to train and to push my performance, and it’s definitely been the most important place for growing my career. Nazaré is an incredible stage to showcase what we do. People come here, and we can show them every angle, and break down exactly what goes into big wave surfing, and they get it straight away. My big wave game started right here, my first big win was here in 2017 when it was still a paddle-in contest, and that was the kickstart of everything. The year after, I came second, and then it became a tow-event and I’ve won the last four since then as a team, first with Kai Lenny, then Nic Von Rupp.

For sure! It’s a lot easier, there’s a direct flight from Brazil. Obviously, we all speak Portuguese, and for me, it’s a small fishing town, like where I come from, so it feels just like I’m at home in Saquarema every day.

Oh man, that’s the dream team. We’ve become the Dad Bulls lately, though! It feels like we’re getting better every year too, with more of a connection and our relationship getting better all the time. At first, Kai and I were kind of rivals, so we never really thought of partnering up and doing it together, but now it’s getting easier and easier for us every time. The last event with Nic was really special, the waves were amazing, and we both surfed really well, but when I surf with Kai, we complete each other. I surf my best when he’s towing me in. I know which waves Kai likes, and he knows the ones I want to go on, so we trust each other’s judgement. Maybe we’ll say, 'Hey, I want to be a little bit deeper,' or something, but it’s only ever minor adjustments, and then we can just focus on surfing.

Yes! I did plenty of those kinds of events but soon realised I was better, and my results were better when the waves were bigger. It’s hard to get a full season of good waves, and if you’re big and tall, it gets pretty hard, and I’d get frustrated losing to guys I knew couldn’t handle waves over six-foot. I’d get so mad whenever I lost I was ready to give it away, but my Dad wouldn’t let me, and I kept at it, and then I started working with Carlos Burle, and it was a turning point. He took me under his wing, pointed me in the direction of big waves, and opened up a whole new world for me. He’s pretty much family for me these days, and when we teamed up, it made a huge difference to my performance. On the tour, the guys have teams around them, and you can see when they feel supported and comfortable, and that’s what we’re trying to bring to big wave surfing. When I turn up somewhere now, I want to have a local team with me, or my crew around me, and work together that way. It’s the best way to keep improving.

It’s such a dream for the Chumbo family at the moment. Can you imagine how my Dad feels right now watching it? Especially for my daughter – in Hawaii, she watched my brother at Pipe, was welcomed into the Volcom house, gets to see me at the Eddie Aikau Invitational, so we’re living the dream. My brother is showing he belongs, he’s up on a level with Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toledo, and we’re so proud of him. It took him so much hard work to get there, and now he’s there he’s enjoying it and living every single moment, and making everybody proud. He’s getting results, the mid-season cut won’t be an issue this year, and then he wants to set his sights on the Top 5, and a world title.

I'm a really true surfer, with a big heart. I live this life because he loves this life. That’s it!