Meet the Waterman of Tahiti

Surfer Matt Poole takes part in The Waterman: an all-round ocean based competition in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
At Teahupo'o, one of the craziest waves in the surfing community, there is yet another competition that takes place: an all-round ocean based race, Waterman Tahiti.
The Waterman Tahiti Tour is THE standard against which all other “waterman” competitions are measured. Stand up paddle (SUP), open water swimming, prone paddleboard, body surf and lifesaving highlight the versatility and endurance of the athletes. Each year, they train to be able to meet the different challenges and exceed their personal limits. The Waterman Tahiti Tour is a championship measured in points amassed over 5 stages.
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[@msdsplayground8360]

Wow..what a challenge, humbleness, what skill.

[@russellcole3549]

This is a nice video about a Red Bull sponsored paddle board racer. I liked it. My friends and family (two generations) are paddle board racers. But "The Waterman?" Okay, guys on paddle boards and surfboards can be water men (or water women). And they did some swimming in one of the events. But let's not forget traditional Polynesian canoes and kayaks and body surfers and windsurfers and kite boarders and free divers and scuba divers and sailors from round-the-world racers to beach catamaran junkies and lifeguards and marine biologist counting fish and pearl divers and the old woman I met in the Caribbean who dunked her eighty-year-old self in the ocean every day. She told me she felt timeless for a little while when wet and floating once again. A Waterman can be identified by his or her affinity for, and mastery, of a discipline or disciplines in and on the water. But it also is a connection to the ocean that transcends the individual sport involved and has nothing to do with competition. My father was the greatest waterman I have ever met. He swam from Catalina Island to the mainland and taught four sons to body surf, even in the winter when nobody else would go in the water in Southern California because it was "cold" and swam every day of his life until he died at 84. But he never swam a race, never competed, and never cared whether he was better than somebody else in the water. What was important was being in the water, not measuring yourself against someone else's personal or spiritual experience.

[@foto21]

Great post. I spent a lot of my youth in the water, and then unfortunately got away from it too much. Plan to move south. I'd have to build up to the cold, but I'm more at home in the water than many. But you have to live the life, or it just flies away.

[@hope4surf]

Total respect for these guyz! HNY!

[@jonathanrath3036]

Matahi is a legend already.

[@lareessa1]

Socorro, é muito legal ver isso, como o esporte transforma as pessoas em alguém melhor, sempre se aprende algo, seja a derrota , seja a vitória. E fisicamente é incrível, ele é uma máquina.

[@ayatchafaqui]

What a humble man , this was great to watch

[@surfdetective]

Love what red bull does to promote the most radical lifestyle..........not so happy about the drink...

[@LoganLuqman]

nail on the head

[@Makta972]

Crappy drinks. But hey, they have to do it for the MONEY

[@dexter131]

Watch the videos and don't buy the drink.. you don't have to support every branch of a company. Not everything has to be all or nothing, everyone is so polarized in today's society, they forget it's okay to be in the middle on some things. I agree with you 100% though - love the lifestyle, not the beverages.

[@zacharybuerkle2244]

@@dexter131 right? its a way for them to fund their platform. I respect that

[@currenwiggin8982]

I drank my first one today. Got me threw the slowest day of school.

[@jaws2323]

Thank You

[@prosimian]

Waiting for the Dutch van der Linde comments

[@rickyspanish5602]

Sacrificial Lamb just need some moah moneh

[@nathkling4604]

All the videos are so cool

[@tord6712]

This is why dutch wanted to go to Tahiti

[@KylieJonkman]

So impressed this is a mixed race!

[@kelseymariebell1357]

Beautiful video 🙏🏻

[@kelseymariebell1357]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@987mooz7]

Aito👏 Puissants le bro🙏☄ Damn de caillasse

[@stokes58]

1:22 has got to be one of the deepest I've seen there.

[@stokes58]

@ham and cheese Pray tell, what doth thou see in the depths of fury friends soul?

[@stokes58]

@ham and cheese He certainly has, the little bastard.

[@Roger-tv7sf]

Take me there next time

[@sw-sq5gk]

Dont know the man, but he sounds like a great person

[@lwf5205]

Polynesians dont have the luxury if time for themselves to reach that higher level compared to Mr.Poole who might have himself to focus on

[@issacf4416]

Maybe Red Bull should’ve done this feature on the teachers and not the student. I’m not surprised though.

[@kylewattssurfing3266]

Awesome yeeeeees coooool....

[@leemcmullan]

SPARTA!!!

[@hunyotiago1271]

Last comment of 2019 Happy new year fellow Red Bull fan

[@qini8331]

Sounds like we got Watermen of other countries.

[@987mooz7]

THANKS you 😉🤙 Maruru Redbull 🤙

[@CLINT_theNotorious_TTG]

Wow, not that much views for having 9 million subscribers?!

[@kelseymariebell1357]

Si beautiful - not above nature, part of 🙏🏻

[@luckybroi]

My last comment in 2019 Happy new year all Let it be an awesome year for you

[@katereitzel]

Good job. :-)

[@ethan_hunter]

I do this sport

[@BruhMoment-ko4nw]

Red dead fans know how much this video means

[@ImperatorCHAOS]

But this guy totally got a plan

[@NBFACADEMY]

Motivational my word for this video.....

[@sergioramirezmunoz2914]

Amazing

[@mts1189]

Yes

[@najibelmaghraoui3132]

More to Red Bull Surfing

[@timdale4047]

This dude doesn't have a pension plan eh

[@notveryobviousguy4373]

Dutch is smiling somewhere

[@lS-qp6zq]

💪🏼

[@mts1189]

This man from where?

[@reihanahaggie8111]

Pronunciation - Teahupo'o not Chowpoo... please!

[@teimoanateheiura6064]

In tahitian pronunciation is TEA HU PO’O

[@jameshamana]

Surfboards and paddleboards cant be recycled. Bet that got dumped in a landfill in beautiful Tahiti. Nice one

[@darraghobrien1028]

Bruh his board got broken. It happens. What do you expect him to do? Tf

[@vito7590]

You broke the football

[@Skyewastaken2]

.....Coulson? I have a feeling no one is gonna understand this reference

[@IPM71]

It's a magical place... And I live there ;)

[@Skyewastaken2]

OMG YES!!!

[@manamana8638]

Blablabla🤪🤪🤪

[@intosavage9213]

epilogue part 3

[@kevinagee4364]

did he win the whole thing?

[@aquamansurfer]

It's not clear or..

[@ryudragonpunch9025]

The waterman of Tahiti just happened to be white huh?

[@nigelpar]

Please boycott Red Bull until they hand over the murderer to face Thai justice. Thanks...

[@capronfunk4869]

Hi

[@Dubstep011011]

Not really about Tahitian watermen

[@canbeanyone5265]

Money .

[@Makta972]

Humm so Tahitian are White ? 😕

[@JohnSmith-oo4qx]

The good ones are

[@elenastewart3963]

Some look like real Polynesian polynesian but some looks white cause they’re interracial kids, most of the time it’s because their grand grand farther/mother were from Europe and part of this big wave of sailers coming in Polynesia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Those kids have like mix European and Tahitian (even from other island like Poumutu) blood, some will actually have a thick Tahitian accent when you hear them talking in French. It’s all a big fam there tho there’s no distinctions, hope it stays the same.

[@uriels4097]

he is not tahitian, he is a popa'a

[@Mollygaga42]

Are you jealous !

[@user-dn6yh8jr1o]

@@JohnSmith-oo4qx aint no way ur a bigot its the 21st century but i guess u can tell urself that to make urself feel better

[@remyespugna5989]

Quel foutage de gueule, c'est comme Coca sponsor des Jeux Olympiques...

[@lmean-ll4rv8le5j]

..

[@redbull]

...

[@powskier]

Lost total respect for the Aussie with his high tech gym crap. Go Polynesians!

[@Mollygaga42]

Jealousy is a curse !

[@eastcoastsailingcenter7768]

@@Mollygaga42 looks like its the other way round ...

[@laurainebuchanan6452]

Get some resin n cloth and fix it ya gay lord

[@MikeRoberts1964]

Probably, but you can't fix it and have it ready the same day or even a day later.

[@nachoorciani9264]

Like?

[@talhatekcan4666]

Fourth comment

[@Jay-fq8uz]

lol the way he explained how Tahiti is in the middle was pointless.

[@mts1189]

Who's play pes mobile 2020 here. .....

[@mts1189]

?

[@dominiopublico1881]

Boring!

[@idumpyourassdaily]

I Already Have....

[@thecelebrityleak]

Cixly same

[@Murqd]

Cixly same

[@cixlydad3370]

Cixly same

[@idumpyourassdaily]

Jan Dinand Brinks no cap...😂

[@ahron1031]

Same