Medina shines in rough conditions

Heavy waves of around 2.5 metres in height set things off before rising to well over 3m as a light offshore breeze turned to heavy onshore winds and swirly, foamy closeouts that saw boards broken amid regular wipeouts.

However, high scores were still the order of the day as local hope Medina – who also impressed on day one – managed a 9.2 and a 9.83.

“I’m so happy I caught good waves again,” said Medina. “Today it’s big and I used a bigger board. I hope it’s smaller tomorrow because it’s hard to compete in these types of conditions.

“There’s a really strong current and I had to keep paddling to stay where the lefts were breaking.”

Matt Wilkinson of Australia and Jadson Andre (Brazil) also moved through to the round of 24.