Injured in the final stretch of last season, Italo Ferreira, 28, worked to reach the 2023 Surfing World Cup with a healthy body. Keeping the mind the same, he realized, was equally important.
That’s why, while he was dealing with the problem in his left foot that hindered him in last year’s title fight, he talked a lot with his psychologist, who he identifies as “doctor Lu”. In an interview with Sheetmentioned spontaneously, repeatedly, his sessions with the professional.
The potiguar triggered it while doing his pre-season in Fernando de Noronha. In a moment of leisure, she caught huge fish, published photos on Instagram and saw that not everyone applauded the feat – many condemned sea hunting.
“That’s what I talked about with my psychologist: what’s on the internet is all fantasy. importance?”
Son of a fish seller, Italo insisted that his fishing was within the law, contrary to what some internet users accused. Then he returned to focusing on “what matters”, his preparation for Worlds.
The championship starts this Sunday (29), when the window opens for the Pipeline stage, in Hawaii. It was in these waves that Ferreira won his title, in 2019, in a battle with Gabriel Medina.
In an attempt to repeat the achievement, he had to restrain himself in an attempt to return to surfing. The injury to ligaments in the toes of his left foot worsened in the 2022 final — from which Filipe Toledo emerged victorious — and a bone fracture forced him to stay away from the sea for just over a month.
“Too long!”, he said, in the interview for this article and for Dr. Lu.
“She’s been with me since I was a child. She’s given me a little more strength in recent years, because there’s a lot to think about, to take with me. I’m not much for saying what I’m feeling, what I’m thinking. With her I can vent a lot. little and speak what is inside me. She manages to help me and change some thoughts”, he said.
What has not changed is its opposition to the format adopted by the WSL (World Surfing League) since 2021. Instead of a dispute for consecutive points, as traditionally occurred, now the championship is decided in a final battle between the top five in the ranking .
The two competitions defined in the new formula had the trophy stage in San Clemente, in the United States, a type of wave that is not particularly good for the Potiguar. Third in 2021 and second in 2022, he will have to get over his irritation as the decision will be at the same venue in the 2023 season.
“I always say that at some point the ball goes in. I’m there at the top, really fighting, it’s something that requires a lot of energy. I have a new chance to fight for the world title and I’m really focused 100%, very determined for that”, he said .
Determined, the intense Italo bothered with the difficulty to train and set the boards in the crowded waves of Pipeline in the last weeks. In addition to elite surfers, the beach has many locals vying for space.
“It really requires a lot of patience. I was talking to my psychologist. She said: ‘You have to think that you’ve already won there, you already have experience. Get in the water, analyze the sea, it will automatically remind you of everything you’ve experienced’ . Just apply now”, he said.
That’s what he will try to do from this Sunday. The world champion —and the first Olympic champion in the history of surfing— assures he is strong, in body and mind, to execute his famous aerials: “I’m flying”.
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