How is wave forecasting done and how does it impact the Paris Olympics surfing competition?

By VICTORIA MILKO, Associated Press

TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti (AP) — The search for the perfect wave has been a part of surfing culture for decades, with surfers traveling from location to location in their quest for the best swells. But with the development of surf forecasting— the prediction of wave swell behavior and breaking— that search has gotten much easier.

This year, it also determines the four days that surfers competing in the Paris Olympics in Tahiti, French Polynesia, will paddle...