Round 1 of the 2024 Olympic surfing competition wrapped up at Teahupo'o in Tahiti and the historic wave was roaring as advertised. 

Five Americans competed in five separate heats -- three female, two male. All five won their heat and earned a bye into Round 3, marking a perfect day for Team USA in French Polynesia.

Here's everything you need to know from the first round of the tournament.

WOMEN'S ROUND 1 RESULTS
MEN'S ROUND 1 RESULTS

Heading into Round 1 Saturday, the marquee heat was undoubtedly midway through the women’s competition with Caitlin Simmers, Molly Picklum, and Tatiana Weston-Webb, with all three being strong contenders to end up on the podium.

Weston-Webb scored a perfect 10 at Teahupo’o earlier this year at the WSL Tahiti Pro and showed off her familiarity with the Tahitian swell early, jumping out to a lead with a keeper score of 5.83 on her first completed wave of the day. That did not last long though, as Simmers bested the Brazilian with a 6.50 minutes later, vaulting her into the top position on the leaderboard.

Weston-Webb kept pushing though, and after sustaining a jarring wipeout she finally nabbed her second solid score of day with a 4.50 and reclaimed the top spot. Simmers wasted no time responding once again, stretching out a clean tube ride for a 6.43 and leapfrogging Weston-Webb for first place.

Picklum mounted a late surge, but it wasn’t enough as Simmers would win with first heat of her Olympic career and become the fourth American to advance through to Round 3.

Simmers was not the only American who found success on the opening day, as all five U.S. surfers will be absent from the second round after winning their heats and receiving byes into Round 3 Monday. The Americans didn't just finish in first place, but they dominated out in the perilous reef pass, posting the three best single-wave scores of the day. 

First up was John John Florence, who paddled out for the sixth heat of the men's event. The Oahu native wasted no time getting started once the air horn blew, ducking in for two textbook barrel rides in the first couple minutes, setting the tone with 12 total points before either of his opponents could even get a score on the board.

From there, Florence took full advantage of the sizable lead and chased ideal waves, shredding one minutes later for excellent score of an 8.00 to cushion his position even more. Then he caught the swell he'd been searching for, soaring through the air for an extremely deep drop in, vanishing in the barrel for what felt like an eternity, and then bursting through the foam for an exclamation-point finish on a near flawless run, scoring a 9.33. Knowing competitors needed a pair outstanding runs to best him, Florence waited as the time ticked down, claiming a statement victory.

Next in the seventh heat, Griffin Colapinto picked up a good score of 7.50 early into the heat, thrusting him into the lead towards the beginning of the round.

With ten minutes remaining, he dropped into a heavy swell super late and appeared to get swallowed up by the wave. After performing a disappearing act in the crashing foam for several seconds, the American blasted through a wall of white water pumping his fist into the air. That ride would be scored as a 9.53, besting his U.S. teammate’s high score of the day in the heat prior and securing himself a spot in Round 3.

Caroline Marks started the women's event off with a bang in the first heat. After being a bit out in front on her first go-around of the 2024 Games, she made sure to get a late drop into her second wave. Marks found the sweet spot in the pit of the swell en route to completing a long tube ride behind the wall of crashing water for a great score of 8.50, setting her up at the top of the heat early.

She then stayed quiet until there were six minutes remaining, when she dropped into a short but towering swell extremely late with a fully airborne entry. Marks stuck the miraculous landing and cut back into the tube of the wave, going missing from sight before completing the seemingly impossible ride by blasting through a barricade of foam. She joined her fellow countrymen Florence and Colapinto atop the single-wave leaderboard with a 9.43 and cruised to an opening-round victory.

It was only fitting that the all-time great surfer Carissa Moore, reigning gold medalist, found herself in the final heat of Round 1 in what may be her last Olympic appearance, as she has announced she will be stepping away from competitive surfing after the Games.

The closing heat ended up being the most exciting, capping off the opening round in electric fashion. All three surfers earned solid early scores and stood within one point of each other with under ten minutes remaining. Suddenly, a run of big waves hit the reef. Moore had priority and let her competitors each take waves ahead of her, making what appeared to be a risky decision.

Her patience was then rewarded, as she dropped into a massive wave and cruised deep within the barrel, completely disappearing inside the swell before making the exit look easy. That ride earned her an even 9.00 and catapulted her into first place. She reinforced her position minutes later with a 7.50 and rode that lead until the final horn, finishing off a flawless first day for the Americans.

The current era of surfing has been dubbed by many as "The Brazilian Storm," and the South American country showed why in the sport's opening round at the 2024 Olympics with three of the country's six competitors winning their heats and advancing directly to Round 3. 

Gabriel Medina, one of the favorites to win the gold medal on the men's side, won a fairly uneventful heat. The reason for the lack of excitement was Medina himself as the veteran maintained complete control from start to finish. After earning multiple solid scores early on, the Brazilian simply used his knowledge of the sport to have a nice and easy remainder of the round. He utilized the rules of priority to block his competitors from riding waves that could allow them to potentially challenge his lead and won in far stronger fashion than the scoreboard would indicate.

Then Joao Chianca suited up for the heat that immediately followed, facing Billy Stairmand and Ramzi Boukhiam. Stairmand held first place 15 minutes in, but then Chianca picked up a couple quick but impactful waves that boosted him into the top spot by a decent margin. After failing to get a clean ride over the first 20 minutes and suffering a perilous wipeout over the sharp reef, Boukhiam suddenly seized the momentum, stringing together a few good rides to give Chianca a run for his money. The Moroccan came up just short though, as Chianca held on by just 0.31 points to punch the second Brazilian ticket to Round 3.

Finally in the sixth heat of the women's opening round, Brazilian teammates Tainá Hinckel and Luana Silva went head-to-head, both hoping to bypass Round 2 of the competition. After the first half of the heat yielded few big swells, Hinckel and Silva were battling for first place. Then Silva was finally able to complete a full barrel ride, celebrating as she exited the wave and hustled back out to hunt for another. The late barrel gave Silva a narrow lead over her teammate that held until the final horn sounded and made her the third Brazilian to earn a bye into Round 3.

See below for the full results from Round 1. Scores are the total of each surfers top two scores. Winners of each heat receive a bye into the third round on Monday (indicated in *bold). 

Read the full surfing competition format here.

Men's Surfing: Round 1

Heat 1

Jordy Smith (RSA) – 7.60 total – 5.17, 2.43
*Ethan Ewing (AUS) – 9.90 total – 7.33, 2.57
Tim Elter (GER) – 4.00 total – 3.00, 1.00

Heat 2

Jack Robinson (AUS) – 13.36 total – 6.83, 6.53
*Joan Duru (FRA) – 13.84 total – 7.67, 6.17
Matt McGillivray (RSA) – 5.26 total – 3.33, 1.93

Heat 3

*Alonso Correa (PER) – 14.33 total – 8.50, 5.83
Filipe Toledo (BRA) – 7.63 total – 6.23, 1.40 
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) – 4.17 total – 4.17

Heat 4

*Gabriel Medina (BRA) – 13.50 total – 7.17, 6.33
Connor O’Leary (JPN) – 9.93 total – 6.20, 3.73
Bryan Perez (ESA) – 7.53 total – 4.03, 3.50

Heat 5

Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) – 9.76 total – 4.93, 4.83
Billy Stairmand (NZL) – 5.53 total – 3.33, 2.20
*João Chianca (BRA) – 10.07 total – 5.67, 4.40

Heat 6

*John John Florence (USA) – 17.33 total – 9.33, 8.00
Andy Criere (ESP) – 12.00 total – 8.50, 3.50
Alan Cleland (MEX) – 14.34 total – 7.17, 7.17

Heat 7

Lucca Mesinas (PER) – 11.10 total – 6.00, 5.10
Kauli Vaast (FRA) – 13.63 total – 7.80, 5.83
*Griffin Colapinto (USA) – 17.03 total – 9.53, 7.50

Heat 8

Rio Waida (INA) – 5.74 total – 5.17, 0.57
Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) – 8.87 total – 4.70, 4.17 
*Reo Inaba (JPN) – 12.76 total – 7.33, 5.43

Women's Surfing: Round 1

Heat 1

*Caroline Marks (USA) – 17.93 – 9.43, 8.50
Sarah Baum (RSA) – 8.47 – 5.67, 2.80
Yolanda Hopkins (POR) – 7.00 – 4.50, 2.50

Heat 2

Sol Aguirre (PER) – 4.30 total – 2.40, 1.90
Janire Etxabarri (ESP) – 2.43 total – 1.30, 1.13
*Vahine Fierro (FRA) – 11.17 total – 6.17, 5.00

Heat 3

Anat Lelior (ISR) – 5.43 total – 3.32, 2.20
Sanoa Dempfle-Olin (CAN) – 4.83 total – 2.83, 2.00 
*Tyler Wright (AUS) – 7.67 total – 4.17, 3.50

Heat 4

*Caitlin Simmers (USA) – 12.93 total – 6.50, 6.43
Molly Picklum (AUS) – 8.44 total – 5.77, 2.67
Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) – 10.33 total – 5.83, 4.50 

Heat 5

Johanne Defay (FRA) – 9.50 total – 5.00, 4.50
*Brisa Hennessy (CRC) – 15.56 total – 8.33, 7.23
Candelaria Resano (NCA) – 9.43 total – 6.00, 3.43

Heat 6

Tainá Hinckel (BRA) – 5.73 total – 2.90, 2.83
Camilla Kemp (GER) – 2.80 total – 2.00, 0.80
*Luana Silva (BRA) – 7.27 total – 4.50, 2.77

Heat 7

*Nadia Erostarbe (ESP) – 13.83 total – 8.33, 5.50
Siqi Yang (CHN) – 5.40 total – 2.90, 2.40
Saffi Vette (NZL) – 7.50 total – 4.73, 2.77

Heat 8

*Carissa Moore (USA) – 16.50 total – 9.00, 7.50
Teresa Bonvalot (POR) – 10.34 total – 5.17, 5.17
Matsuda Shino (JPN) – 11.16 total – 8.33, 2.83

Assuming the weather holds, catch do-or-die Round 2 Sunday, July 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. ET.