Or maybe gimlets.
Ok, ok, ok, I really, really don’t want to worry you, here, but J-Bay is basically 24-hours away, maybe less by the time you read this. It is the first World Surf League Championship Tour event with a promising swell forecast in the last I don’t even know how many, Surfline bullishness notwithstanding.
There is only one problem and I really, really don’t want to cause stress but… World Surf League’s Senior Vice President of Tours, Head of Competition, Jessi Miley-Dyer is still not there.
Breathe.
Delighting surf fans yesterday, Miley-Dyer posted a selfie sitting poolside enjoying much deserved “me time.” Those same fans, though, were slightly troubled by her caption reading, “Still here Rio. I’m never leaving Brazil.”
She, theoretically, still had enough time to hop a flight and arrive in South Africa in time for the opening hooter and, possibly, the “never leaving Brazil” was metaphorical. A reference to emotionally never leaving Brazil, holding the country’s charms in her heart and taking them with her.
Anxiousness has turned into sheer panic today, however, as it appears that Miley-Dyer is still poolside in Rio, via her Instagram Stories (above), this time drinking a lemon drop.
Maybe a gimlet.
Bespoke caipirinha?
If she is not on J-Bay’s sand, holding a finger to the winds, sussing conditions, taking professional surfer temperatures as to its contestability and/or relative scariness then delivering “It’s on” or “It’s off” direct to camera, the contest will not be able to run.
I do not want to rule out the possibility that she has access to a private flight but… am white knuckling here.
Breathing into a paper bag.
More as the story develops.
