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Australian surfer Jack Robinson has revealed he came close to drowning during the Olympics on his way to reaching the quarter-finals amid dangerous conditions in French Polynesia, The Mirror reported.

The 26-year-old is one of the world's top surfers and proved that with a superb performance that saw him knock out world No 1 John Florence in Tahiti - which is hosting the surfing competition at this year's Paris Olympics.

A storm system created huge waves and the women's round three heat was postponed on Tuesday following concerns over the conditions, with Robinson opening up on the scare he received following a number of wipe-outs that required rescue from a jet-ski.

"I got dragged over the bottom and almost had a two wave hold under," he revealed. "I didn't get much air. There wasn't much time. I got reminded of so many guys who have had so many bad wipe-outs here.

"I have had some pretty bad (wipe-outs) but in a contest it's different. You have way more adrenaline and there is way more on the line."

Robinson finished with a score of 13.94 - seeing off Florence's tally of 9.07 - but stressed he was grateful to come out of his previous heat unscathed as he emphasised the danger of the ocean - comparing the power of a wave to an avalanche.

"Every other sport is in a court or a stadium," he said. "We are in an ocean. It is the biggest, most powerful source of life we have on this planet.

"'The waves are so powerful. It doesn't relate to any other sport. Maybe an avalanche coming down on your head on a mountain. Maybe it's similar to that. It's so dangerous and so crazy."

Robinson will face fellow Australian Ethan Ewing in the quarter-finals - with the latter suffering his own string of wipe-outs in the huge waves after defeating Connor O'Leary.