Frederico Morais is one of the three substitutes on the world circuit
Frederico Morais will be one of three substitutes in the 2019 edition of the world surfing circuit, along with Brazilian Caio Ibelli and Australian Ethan Ewing, today announced the World Surfing League (WSL).
‘Kikas’ finished its second season among the world surfing elite in the 23rd place, the first to be relegated to the qualifying circuit, after finishing the season of debut in 14th.
In a statement, WSL confirmed that wildcards were awarded to American 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and Hawaiian John John Florence, winner of the circuit in 2016 and 2017, who were injured for much of the year, and joining the top 22 finishers on the circuit, beaten by Brazilian Gabriel Medina.
The 34-strong squad is top of the rankings with Seth Moniz of Australia, Ryan Callinan, Soli Bailey and Jack Freestone of the Brazilians Peterson Crisanto, Jesse Mendes, Deivid Silva, and Jadson André. New Zealander Ricardo Christie and Italian Leonardo Fioravanti.
In the women’s section, in which the Australian Stephanie Gilmore won her seventh title, the wild card was awarded to compatriot Tyler Wright, champion in 2016 and 2017.
The 2019 world circuit, which will once again be championships in Peniche, both men’s and women’s, will be the first qualifying round for the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games.
According to WSL, the final ranking will allocate 18 of the 40 places for the Olympic competition – a maximum of two men and two women per country – with the remaining 22 places being determined in the Surfing World Cups of 2019 and 2020, in Pan American Games, plus a vacancy for each competition, male and female, for the host country.
The men’s world circuit includes 11 championships, the first of which is on the Gold Coast, Australia, between April 3 and 13, and the last in Hawaii, between December 8 and 20, while the women’s 10.
Peniche hosts the penultimate stages of both circuits, between October 16 and 28.
