Sport / Science

The science of surfing waves

21:30 pm on 29 July 2024

Teahupo'o off the south coast of Tahiti Iti is this year's Olympic surfing venue and is one of the biggest tests of skill and courage in the surf community. 

Its name translates to 'the place of skulls', and scares some of the best surfers in the world.

So what makes it one of a kind?

Tom Shand is the technical director at Tonkin + Taylor and an honorary lecturer at the University of Auckland and joins Emile Donovan to explain.

Listen

New Zealand's Billy Stairmand drops into a wave in the 5th heat of the men's surfing round 1, during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Teahupo'o, on the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti, on July 27, 2024. Photo: AFP / Jerome Brouillet