Ricardo travelled two days solid to make it to Tahiti for this swell, spent less than 24 hours in the country, and then travelled two days back to Brazil for his heat in the Billabong Rio Pro. That’s how much he loved Teahupoo, and he surfed about it as well as anybody. In the 20 or so hours he was there, his tow partner Manoa Drollet slung him into some of the waves of his life. Perhaps more so than any of his compatriots, Ricardo flew the flag for Brazil in waves of consequence, giving the lie to the notion that Brazilians cannot perform in big surf.