iStockphoto / MaximFesenko
Nikolas Plytas is one of the best hydrofoil surfers on the scene and he just pushed the bar even further after becoming the first surfer to ever land a Backside 540 Rodeo Flip on a hydrofoil.
Hydrofoiling has been an emerging sport for years. This tends to happen with all things related to to the ocean where people get really, really good at one discipline so they move onto something more difficult. Since the rise of foilboarding or hydrofoil surfing, we’ve seen some of the best surfers in the world pick it up like Kai Lenny.
But Kai Lenny has never landed a backside 540 Rodeo Flip on a hydrofoil, not like Nikolas Plytas just did:
On Instagram, Plytas who grew up in Athens, Greece, shared how it all went down. Saying “The punchy wave made for a difficult landing but thankfully my foil didn’t hit the bottom. Possibilities are endless on this sport and there are no limits to what can be achieved.”
In board sports, if you land the trick for the first time you get to name it, right? Well, in this case some people are divided on what to call this…
According to Surfer Magazine, some surfers aren’t convinced this was a ‘backside’ maneuver. They looked in the Instagram comments where someone wrote ““I’m sure I’ll get tarred and feathered for this comment but… I get that skaters call rotation based on direction of rotation but in surfing, everything done facing the wall is and always will be considered frontside.” Another person echoed that sentiment.
Not content to land just one new trick this week, Greek foil surfer Nikolas Plytas dropped another new one on the world. He asked his followers what to call this ‘Frontside 360 backflip’ since he’s the first to land it:
It’s hard to say who the best foilsurfer is right now because it’s still an emerging sport. With less of the board touching the water (and less friction) it requires more skill but offers more opportunity due to the speed that charging surfers can generate.
It will certainly be cool to check in on foilboarding in a couple years and see how far guys like this have pushed the sport.