A new continent for this 5th event of the ASP Women’s Tour! This time, the girls landed in Rio where the population is probably the most passionate one they’ll see this year. Pauline had never signed so many autographs!
The first Round had been launched with some clean conditions. Pauline ended 2nd of this heat, in which she was facing Steph Gilmore and Suelen Naraisa, the young Brazilian wildcard. “Every heat is very hard”, declared Pauline just before her Round 2 against Felicity Palmateer. Fortunately, she managed to win over the Australian wildcard thanks to a solid performance.
After 2 days off, spent cruising in Rio, the event organizers decided to run the whole woman contest on Sunday before the arrival of a potential storm. During this long final day, Pauline surfed against Sally Fitzgibbons and Sofia Mulanovich in Round 3. With a former World Champion and the ASP ranking leader in the heat, the young French rookie strongly defended herself but ends 2nd and had to go to Round 4 for a second chance to get to the quarter finals.
Coco Ho, Pauline’s opponent in Round 4, was controlling the heat. But on her last wave, Pauline managed to take the lead after a long wait for judges’ marks. In quarter finals, she met Sally Fitzgibbons again.
Despite her good performance, Pauline is beaten by the future finalist and ends her Brazilian stay with an encouraging 5th place.
After a 4 month trip around the world, it’s now time to go back to France.