Short Wave - The Surf's Always Up — In Waco, Texas

Episode Date: September 23, 2021

Some of the world's best artificial waves are happening hundreds of miles from the ocean—in Waco, Texas. They're so good, they're attracting top professionals, casual riders and a science correspondent named Jon Hamilton. Jon's been following the wave technology for years and says the progress is huge. These days, pro surfers are coming from all over to try out Waco's "Freak Peak."Read more of Jon's reporting on artificial waves: https://n.pr/3zAX95kWondering what insights science has to offer for other sports? Drop us a line at [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Surf's up, Duterino. Shortwave is going to Waco, Texas. Look at that. A little too right. I'm Emily Kwong, and I'm here with NPR's senior surfing correspondent, John Hamilton. Hi, Emily. So typically you cover neuroscience? Like, what are you doing on this story? Emily, I am the senior brain correspondent in public radio. Oh, I'm sorry.

But I grew up surfing in Southern California. was long ago when terradactyl still filled the skies. So I've been following the evolution of artificial surfing waves as kind of a hobby. And the science of wave making has come a long way. I'm into this artificial waves surfing, science. Let's do it. Oh yeah. Yeah. In nature, it takes this really complicated interaction between an ocean swell and the underwater contours of the shore to produce a great surfing wave. The best waves break in places where these really large ocean swells that have traveled hundreds or even thousands of miles suddenly encounter shallow water like a reef. That increases the wave's height, what a scientist would call its

amplitude. Right. And the higher it is, the sooner I fall off in my experience. Yes. And if the amplitude increases fast enough, the top of the wave will actually pitch out toward the shore, and that creates what surfers call a barrel or tube. It is hard to replicate all that in a wave pool, but it's starting to happen. In fact, Texas. On today's show, we take a look at one of the best artificial waves in the world, which happens to break in Waco, Texas, just a few miles from Willie Nelson's hometown. Plus, we'll talk about the science of bathymetry and meet the surfer known as Waco's Minister of Stoke. I have no idea what any of those words mean, but I can say this with confidence. This is Shortwave, the Daily Science podcast from NPR.

So, John, you went surfing in Waco, Texas. How are the waves there, bud? You know, to answer that, let me introduce you to a kid I met there in Waco. All right. So picture of this. I was walking along the beach at the BSR Surf Resort, and I noticed this young surfer. He's standing there, looking out at the waves, kind of studying them, you know. He tells me his name is Dane Grahowski.

He's 12. He lives with his family in Pacific, California. And he surfs the brakes around there all the time. But this will be his first time serving in Waco. So when I see him kick out, I do what any good reporter would do. I grab my microphone, hitch up my trunks, and start waiting out there to talk to him. Dan, what do you think, man? I loved it. It was so fun.

I knew it was going to be super fun, but that was just a blast. First wave, what was it like? I pumped down the line and did a little snap and kind of got caught behind the section. So I pulled into the barrel and got in there, but I wasn't going to make it out. And I should probably try to go back out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, sorry, you want to hold you up. Right.

Go matter. Go, go, go, go, go, go. Jane, trying to catch you. I love this support you're offering this young surfer. Clearly a big fan of this wave. Yeah, he is. But, you know, a lot of surfers are. It is remarkable to me how many of the world's top professionals have made a point of visiting Waco.

You know, YouTube is just. filled with clips of surf celebrities like Mason Ho and Jamie O'Brien surfing at BSR, and a famous Hawaiian surfer named Carissa Moore trained at the Waco wave before she won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. John, I got to know before we go on, why is this wave in a resort in Waco, Texas? I mean, that must be 200 miles from the ocean. It's not exactly a major travel destination. Yeah, I asked the guy who manages the place that same question.

His name is Mike Schwab. The dude that put it all together was a barefoot water skier. And this whole place started based on barefoot water skiing. At some point, someone convinced him to build a wakeboard park. And then he opened a bar and grill on top of it. And when Dave was hanging out with his buddies after a night wakeboarding, and someone said, dude, you could put a lazy river out here. Finally, in 2018, it's when they opened the surf pool.

That is super random. But anyway, when you finally got to ride this artificial wave, what was it like for you? Well, it's different for sure. I grew up surfing around Santa Barbara, mostly what are known as point breaks. That's where the waves starts breaking, where the shoreline sticks out in the ocean, and it peels along into a cove. And you could tell when a set of waves was on the way because you would look out at the horizon. In Waco, I remember paddling out into this artificial lagoon, maybe 200 feet wide, several times that long. And there was a surf coach out there who tells me, okay, you wait in this one specific spot along this concrete wall that runs the whole length of the lagoon.

So I'm sitting out there on my board with a few other surfers, you know, baking in the Texas sun, listening to some country song on the PA system. And it felt like I was on a movie set for some, you know, surf film because we're all out there on boards and there is not so much as a ripple in the water. Then we hear this sound like a jet engine starting up. A few seconds later, the surf coach says, dude, you got to paddle now. So I start paddling, and this head high wave just like pops up behind me from nowhere. I totally missed it. And I missed the next one, too. So you're telling me this wave just materialized out of nowhere.

It was totally flat. Then there was a wave. And you were, well, not surfing on it, but trying to. It's like magic. It's very strange. But when I did finally catch one of these waves, it was a lot like surfing in the ocean. You drop in, you make your bottom turn, and then you kind of build up speed to stay ahead of the white water. The wave has some fast parts, some slow swarts.

You know, you can do turns. You can wipe out, as I found out. But it's totally fun. And you said earlier that it's been really hard to make good artificial waves. So how did this water park succeed? They had the right combination of science and technology. So that sound we heard, that was these massive fans that are compressing air that goes to a series of chambers. inside the wall. And the details of what happens in there, they're a big trade secret. They won't let you

look at the wave chambers. They won't let you look at the software that controls everything. And I understand there are even legal battles going on over who owns switch patents on what wavemaking technology. Anyway, I did get a general explanation from Schwab. It's a pneumatic system, so it's basically run off of compressed air. And, you know, there's a proprietary way that that air gets released, displaces water, and that specific displacement paired with the behammetry, the way that the concrete bottom is designed is what creates a breaking wave. And you can have a beginner wave that's fun on a longboard or a foam board. You can have an expert wave. You can have a wave specifically to get barreled. You can have a wave to try and work on your airs and things like that.

So much of surfing is the lingo. Did he say work on your airs? What does that mean? Yeah, he did. Let me, how do I explain this? A lot of surfing moves these days involve like launching yourself and your board above the lip of the wave and doing some maneuver, you know, like a 360. One guy actually landed a backflip off the Waco wave. Cool. And are all artificial waves made with air pressure? Definitely not. The system in Waco was designed by American wave machines in Salana Beach, California. It's one of several companies that are using air pressure. But there are a lot of ways to turn energy into a breaking wave. Another approach is to drag a hydrofoil through the water. And there's one spot in Australia that uses this massive plunger in the middle of a lake to create these concentric waves that break in every direction.

Such cool technology. Okay, John, there are a lot of these waves. And, I mean, how long has this kind of development been going on? The idea has been around for many decades. Disney World, for instance, opened a pool called Typhoon Lagoon in 1989. You can actually surf on that wave, but it's kind of slow, kind of mushy. Yeah, I remember going to Disney World as a kid and my uncle and aunt were like, you got to check out this wave. It's so cool, but not up to snuff for you, huh?

Surfers are not particularly interested in that wave or really any artificial wave until what really changed was Kelly Slater got involved in the artificial wave. business. Slater is widely considered the greatest surfer of all time. Yeah. So Slater spent like a decade developing an artificial wave designed to be light years ahead of anything else. All the research and development was done pretty much in secret at this abandoned water ski park in central California. As you do. What they ended up building is kind of a train track. It runs the length of the lake. That allows them to push a hydrofoil that weighs more than 80 tons through the water at high speed. And the result is this perfect barreling beast of a wave that you can ride for about 45 seconds.

You sound impressed. Is 45 seconds a long time to be surfing? In the surfing world, 45 seconds is eternity. Wow. Most waves are like 10 seconds long. Before you're like in the water again. So this is the perfect wave. On paper it is, yes. And it also sounds like only experts should be riding it.

Right. I mean, and experts who are willing to fork out hundreds of dollars. is just to ride one wave. In Waco, they had took a really different approach. The wave is shorter, it's less intimidating, and it costs about 10 bucks a ride. That is probably why sessions there are selling out weeks ahead of time. And the Waco wave is helping to create this new generation of surfers who are learning how to surf before they ever get near the ocean. I talked to one guy, his name is Brian Fillmore. He was a skateboarder, and he was so enthralled with the Waco wave that he Pestered them into giving him a job as director of surf operations, whatever that is. The funny part is, when he got there, he did not know how to surf.

When I started, I was a beginner, and now I'm able to get barreled, do airs, working on perfecting my turns just like every other surfer. I should mention that Fillmore's Instagram now describes him as Waco's Minister of Stoke. He's come a long way. He says he does surf in the ocean now, and he likes it, but he says the way. wave pool is where he is able to practice and to get better. The ocean, you don't know what the wave is going to throw you and you don't know what's going to happen.

But out here, you know there's a perfect wave with your name on it. Yeah, all thanks to science. And technology. Thanks, John, for taking us on this journey through the world of artificial waves. It's been real. Anytime, Emily. This episode was produced by Britt Hansen, fact-checked by Burley McCoy, and edited by Sarah Saracen. I'm Emily Kwong. Thanks for listening to Shortwave, the Daily Science Podcast from NPR.