Discover the importance of Lycra on the Banco do Brasil 2025 surf circuit

Summary
Lycra, an essential piece of professional surfing, is used to identify athletes during competitions, with colors assigned according to ranking; During the final stage of the Banco do Brasil 2025 Surf Circuit, in Praia do Futuro, local surfers distinguished themselves from the first laps.

Besides the boards, the paraffin and of course the waves, another element is essential in official surf competitions: lycra. In the final stage of the Banco do Brasil Surf Circuit 2025, organized in Praia do Futuro, in Fortaleza (CE), it is no different: the accessory has a fundamental role in evaluating the maneuvers that could decide the next champion of the stage of the Qualifying Series (QS) of the World Surf League (WSL).

As clothing, lycras are nothing more than “t-shirts” made from elastane, a synthetic fiber that can stretch and return to its original size. In surfing, they play a more important role: identifying surfers in the sea based on different colors.

In WSL stages, lycras are available in the colors white, blue, green and red – or pink, in the case of women. There is also an even more special color: yellow, which can only be used by the leader of the Championship Tour (CT) rankings, the sport’s elite. The Brazilian Yago Dora, last world champion, is the current owner of the yellow lycra.

And those responsible for distributing the lycras to surfers, as well as guiding them before and after the events, are the “beach marshals” (beach agent, in free Portuguese). At EarthCarlos Franco and Alexandre Costa, the beach commissioners of the Praia do Futuro stage, gave more details on how this work works.

“The heats usually have four, three or even two athletes. The lycra will determine which athlete is which so that the referees can judge through the colors, in the waves. That’s the main thing, distinguishing who is who”, explains Carlos.

He emphasizes that the choice of color is made through a system of the league itself, based on the athlete’s ranking in the ranking preceding the stage: “The system itself assigns the colors. We know that the leader of the ranking wears yellow, and the others according to their previous rankings.”

In addition to yellow, red is for the “seeds,” the highest-ranked surfers in each round. At the end of each competition, the clothing is then returned to the beach marshals to check and continue the event.

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Find out how the 1st day of the WSL stage in Praia do Futuro went

The competition on the coast of Ceará began this Friday 12 and promises great clashes in the waves until Sunday 14. The tournament so far includes two rounds of the men’s tournament and a women’s round, in addition to the special series that closed the first day.

The vast majority of athletes who fell in the water this Friday were local surfers, invited to participate in the event.

Among the men, 16 surfers advanced to the third phase, with emphasis on Michel Roque, owner of the largest series of the event so far. He won the sixth heat with 11.90, adding scores of 6.67 and 5.23.

Among the women, it was veteran Silvana Lima who opened the proceedings. Competing in his country of origin, “Sil” won the first category, taking into account his experience against local promises.

The WSL Qualifying Series stage at Praia do Futuro, in Fortaleza, will resume this Saturday 13 morning, with the first call at 8am. The men will compete in the 3rd round and the round of 16, while the women will compete in the quarterfinals.

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