Hawaii surfers dominate finalists for Big Wave Awards
Hawaii surfer Shane Dorian is seen in this courtesy photo.
This courtesy photo shows Maui surfer Paige Alms.
Billy Kemper's wipeout at Puerto Escondido, Mexico on July 5 is nominated for the Best Wipeout at the 2015 Big Wave Awards.
Haleiwa surfer Emi Erickson is among the finalists for the World Surf League Big Wave Award for best overall women's performance in 2015.
Past winner Keala Kennelly, of Haleiwa, is a finalist for the 2015 Big Wave Award for best overall women's performance.
North Shore surfer Makua Rothman is a finalist for the best overall men's surfer at the 2015 Big Wave Awards.
Sunset Beach's Trevor Carlson is a finalists for the best overall men's performance at the Big Wave Awards for 2015.
Albee Layer, from Haiku, Maui, is a finalist for the 2015 World Surf League Big Wave Award for best overall surfer.
Four of five finalists for the men’s best overall performance in the 2015 World Surf League Big Wave Awards and three of the five women are from Hawaii.
The Hawaii finalists include past winners Shane Dorian and Keala Kennelly, and Big Wave champion Makua Rothman.
Maui surfer Billy Kemper is also up for the wipeout of the year award, which honors the most committed, yet least successful wave of the year.
“The overall performance categories are a key part of the WSL Big Wave Awards as they really point out the surfers who were consistently brilliant. Some of the other awards are about pulling off one ride where everything goes right, but these divisions acknowledge the true champions who defined the progression of the sport all year long,” said Bill Sharp, Event Director of the Big Wave Awards in a news release.
Sharp said the wipeout of the year award “is kind of the other end of the spectrum–the greatest failures of the year. But as long as no one gets hurt, everyone loves a good wipeout and it’s become one of the most popular parts of the event. You don’t have to be an expert in the nuances of big wave performance to understand what is happening when a surfer falls off his board and is confronted by a million gallons of plunging seawater.”
Dorian, South African Grant Baker, and first-time Hawaii finalists Rothman, Trevor Carlson and Albee Layer are up for the $5,000 Surfline men’s best overall performance award.
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The award goes to the surfer who not only puts on the greatest number of outstanding performances in the most diverse number of venues, but also demonstrates a high level of excellence in water safety leadership.
The $5,000 women’s best overall performance award finalists are Kennelly and fellow Hawaii surfers Paige Alms and Emi Erickson; Silvia Nabuco of Brazil; and Jamilah Star of California.
The wipeout award surfer winner receives $2,000 and videographer gets $1,000.
The wipeout finalists are Australian Scott Dennis for a wave at Bawley Point, New South Wales, Australia on Aug. 5; Brazil’s Marcio Freire for a wave at Jaws on Maui on Jan. 21; Kemper for a wave at Puerto Escondito, Mexico on July 5; Jamie Mitchell, of Australia and Chapman Murphy, of San Diego, for a double-wipeout at Maverick’s in California on Dec. 20; and France’s Benjamin Sanchis for a wave at Nazare, Portugal on Dec. 11.
The World Surf League Big Wave Awards competition window ran from March 20, 2014 to March 20, 2015. The finalists are chosen by a panel of judges based on photographic and video evidence of wave riding. The winners will be announced at an awards show at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, Calif. on May 1.
Photographs and video of all the nominated rides can be viewed at WorldSurfLeague.com/BigWave.
