Today, Japanese local media reported that construction of a pool like Slater's, like the Surf Ranch, begins in September, very close to Shida Shita beach, the site of the Olympic surfing event.

It is known that the Olympic event will take place in the ocean, this has been communicated hundreds of times by the ISA, the IOC and the organizing committee. So why this suggestive move by the WSL? What is it up to?

Of course, as is normal for this company, there is no official information on this matter. There is room for some speculation.

Kelly Slater's famous pool has been owned by the World Surf League since May 2016. The world surfing tour is owned by a private company, ZoSea Media, and it has not been reported that it has made much money by organizing events in the ocean.

With the arrival of a pool capable of keeping the WSL's main partners, the best surfers in the world and some fans happy, the WSL saw an impeccable business opportunity: A controlled environment, TV rights, clear schedules and the sale of tickets and merchandising.

With the arrival of Olympic surfing, the WSL also saw an impeccable business opportunity: Surfing would for the first time in history be treated as a top-tier sport, one associated with multi-billion dollar contracts and not as an industry that is not going through its best moment. For this reason, and in an act that ended up being good for the sport, when the time came to present surfing to the Olympic world, the WSL and the ISA did so together, under the leadership of the ISA, but in peace.

Finally, with the arrival of a pool in Tokyo, where the Olympic Games will be held, the WSL saw a wonderful combination of the aforementioned elements and, in what seemed like an impossible task, what took Slater a lifetime, is now costing the WSL a couple of years: Building that pool in a couple of years (close to the eyes of the Olympic movement and before the games start).

Even though it is officially known that Olympic surfing will be in the sea, and there is very little chance that the WSL will convince the IOC, the organizing committee and the ISA that the surfing tournament will be in the pool, this act of presence is not a bad move if we think about the wallet of Dirk Ziff, the majority shareholder of ZoSea.

Thinking in the medium and long term, once it is confirmed (if it ever happens) that Slater's pool becomes an Olympic pool, all surfers will want to surf in one, national teams will want to train in one and of course the host cities will have to have one and for each of these pools, there will be good business for the WSL.

This may be the salvation that the WSL is looking for and perhaps, again for the sake of the company's wallet, in a few years, in addition to the Olympic Games, we will see a tour with half stages in pools and half in the ocean.

A while ago we thought it was impossible for a CT stage to be in a swimming pool, for example, but now all you have to do is go to the WSL calendar and see where the competition is from September 6 to 9.