This summer, surfing returns to the Olympic fold having finally made its debut at Tokyo 2020 at Tsurigasaki Beach where the USA’s Carissa Moore and Brazil’s Italo Ferreira clinched gold in their respective categories. Ferreira even broke a board in half on his way to glory!
At Paris 2024, the surfing competitions are slated for Teahupo'o wave, 15,000km away from the French capital in Tahiti, an autonomous overseas country of the French Republic.
Teahupo'o is seen as an exciting surfing spot due to its powerful, heavy waves and shallow reef, and it is set to create challenging conditions for top surfers like John John Florence, Gabriel Medina, Caroline Marks and, once again, Moore. Ferreira didn’t make the cut this time.
Last year, the World Surf League (WSL) chose Apple Watch as its official "wearable equipment." The WSL Surfer app on it syncs with the WSL Scoring System and delivers real-time updates such as scores, wave priority and heat timings directly to athletes' wrists. There are, of course, lots of other smart watches available that are geared towards surfing.
But if a surfer wants to strap on a mechanical wrist companion while catching the waves – or even wants to double-wrist, pairing a connected watch with a traditionally-made ticker – here are three timepieces that might just do a job for them.
TAG Heuer Aquaracer 300 Professional Date
Even if it’s just to have a back-up for knowing the time, factors like depth rating, build quality, readability, tactility and comfort will all be important when selecting a mechanical timepiece fit for surfing.
With its 300m water resistant steel case, lume-filled hands, pointers and indexes and dodecagonal rotating notched bezel, the TAG Heuer Aquaracer 300 Professional Date ticks all these boxes. Such is its allure, the 42mm and 36mm editions of this watch are respectively endorsed by TAG Heuer ambassadors and ace surfers Kai Lenny and Maya Gabeira.
IWC Schaffhausen Aquatimer Chronograph
Specific functions on a watch can come in handy while surfing. A chronograph, for example, could prove useful for timing sessions and tracking wave intervals, allowing you to monitor your performance and manage your time effectively.
Mind you, you’d want to make sure it is a chrono that can be operated in and under water with confidence. In that regard, the IWC Schaffhausen Aquatimer Chronograph fits the bill nicely. Its 42mm steel case is water resistant to 300m while the chronograph can be activated within the salty brine without any issue.
Ulysse Nardin Blast Moonstruck
Finally, tidal information is also a handy thing to have at hand while surfing. The times of high tide and low tide affect wave conditions, with high tide bringing deeper water, which can smooth out waves or even make them break more consistently in some spots.
Low tide, meanwhile, exposes shallower areas, potentially causing waves to break more abruptly or in different directions. Understanding these patterns can help surfers choose the best times and locations to catch optimal waves.
The Ulysse Nardin Blast Moonstruck could plausibly help out here: Its precision moonphase is indicated through a circular aperture, while the sun is represented using a bronzite disk. With the real-time position of these two entities shown in relation to the Earth, the state of the tides can be read off intuitively.
