Surfing
Surfing
These are the big wave surfers you need to know
Dive in and celebrate the men and women surfers who've ridden the world's biggest waves and plan to keep going bigger in the world's wildest oceans.
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We'd never say this list of names is the definitive roll call of the planet's finest watermen and women, as a scorned big wave surfer is almost as dangerous as the ocean conditions they tackle, but it's a decent representation of the crew you should keep on your radar if you're a fan of all things XXL surfing.
From paddle to tow, Jaws to Teahupo'o, here's a list of chargers who you know will always go.
01
Kai Lenny
1 h
Paradigm Lost
Take an in-depth look at the life of one of the world's most complete watermen, Kai Lenny.
It's hard to know where to begin with Kai Lenny, modern surfing's ultimate waterman. Born and raised on Maui, Lenny first surfed Jaws aged just 16, but took the long route to big wave stardom, winning six stand-up paddleboard titles and the Molokai 2 Oahu open ocean race twice before thinking there was more excitement to be found in the big swells of the Hawaiian winter.
Before too long, windsurfing and SUP started to give way to chasing big waves, most notably in his own back yard at beloved Jaws.
Lenny found mentors among surf greats like Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama
© Kai Lenny
In 2017, aged 23, Lenny won his first WSL Big Wave event, the Puerto Escondido Challenge. Two years later he won the WSL's Big Wave Ride Of The Year,and since then he's won more awards at Jaws and Nazaré while chasing monstrous swells all over the world.
As well as his podium climber status hitting platinum, Lenny has grown an enormous profile thanks to his incredible behind-the-scenes series Life Of Kai, which is now onto its fourth season.
3 min
The Jaws sessions from Kai Lenny's "Paradigm Lost"
Paddle, tow, or SUP, nothing's out of Kai Lenny's reach on the biggest days at Peahi.
For me, it’s never been about beating someone else. It’s about beating myself
02
Justine Dupont
33 min
à la folie
Strap in for the ride of your life as we follow surfer Justine Dupont through a ground-breaking big wave season.
Much like Kai Lenny, Frenchwoman Justine Dupont didn't grow up dreaming of big wave surfing success. In 2012 she qualified for the WSL's Championship Tour, though an ankle injury derailed her campaign. She then set her sights on SUP and longboarding, coming second in the world in 2019. However, a short time earlier something started to switch for Dupont, when she surfed Jaws then Nazaré in 2016 and 2017.
1 min
Justine Dupont surfs a huge wave in Nazaré
See Justine Dupont pushing the limits in Nazaré.
The two waves would go on to shape Dupont's career and these days the Frenchwoman sits without peer as the best female big wave surfer in the world. Her accolades keep stacking up year-on-year, including wins in four WSL Big Wave Award categories.
Dupont flying through the wave of her life at Jaws
© Fred Pompermayer/Red Bull Content Pool
"I'm never looking for a win," Dupont said in a recent Red Bull portrait. "I surf for myself. I don't really care if I win or lose, I'm a surfer and I only care about the waves. If I win and catch bad waves, I won't be happy. I'll just say: 'okay, thanks.' I know that it will be good for my sponsors and the media to talk about it, but I'd rather be happy with the waves I rode, the lines I took and how I feel afterwards."
03
Lucas Chianca
40 min
Chumbo: Made for Big Wave Surfing
Get a glimpse into Lucas Chianca's life as he balances chasing big waves with looking after his family.
Lucas ‘Chumbo’ Chianca is Brazilian surfing’s latest superhero. While brother João Chianca, Italo Ferreira and the rest of their countrymen are winning WSL Championship Tour events around the world, Chumbo is getting it done in waves of consequence.
A five-time winner at the Nazaré Big Wave Challenge, Chianca is far from a one-trick tow pony. Chianca honed his high performance ripping from an early age, growing up in Saquarema, and while he can throw aerials with the best of them if he must ride a shortboard he'd prefer to be packing bombs at Teahupo'o, or other slabs around the world.
Brazilian madman Lucas Chianca shone on his first ever trip to Teahupo'o
© Domenic Mosqueira
I'm a really true surfer, with a big heart. I live this life because I love this life
04
Ian Walsh
1 min
Teaser: Ian Walsh's "Distance Between Dreams"
The most historic year in big-wave surfing comes to life through the eyes of Ian Walsh.
"I grew up in a small little town on Maui, conveniently located in close proximity to the best big wave on the planet," Ian Walsh told Red Bull in a 2024 portrait about his foundation for big wave surfing success. "I think developing as a surfer in Maui is unique because you have one-foot waves to 60-foot waves and everything in between.
11 min
Following – Ian Walsh
Get an insight into the existence of a surfer who goes into the water thoroughly prepared, leaving nothing to chance.
"I could finish school, knock out as much of my homework as I could on the bus ride home, get out, grab my board and either hitchhike or run down to the beach right from the house and go surfing until the streetlights came on, which was my parents rule."
Ian Walsh In Alaska
© @ianwalsh4
Walsh's formula worked and he's lived the life of a professional surfer since leaving school, morphing from a competitive animal to a North Shore standout, before the final hard pivot to big wave mastery proved his legacy piece.
"I really geek out on meteorology," says Walsh, "Everything that makes the storms we surf and how to track them. I've had a log for years now of pretty much every day and every wave that I've surfed, so that I can look back and compare swells. I can't remember where my car keys are right now, but I could tell you exactly how the waves were on January 10, 2004."
4 min
Ian Walsh's training regime
An intensive regime of strength, plyometric and cardiovascular training keeps surfer Ian Walsh primed.
If you love big wave surfing, eating well, reading weather maps, health and fitness, and have an appreciation for doing things safely, then hit play on Walsh's seminal Distance Between Dreams above, it's everything you could ever want and more.
05
Izzi Gomez
18 min
Twenty Foot Plus: North Pacific
The world’s best big wave surfers chase a cool new swell from Waimea to Jaws, Cortes Bank to Todos Santos.
Izzi Gomez is yet another all round water sports athlete who came to big wave surfing via SUP. In Gomez's case that included winning five consecutive world titles, but since leaving the paddle behind her career trajectory has soared.
Born in Florida and competing for Colombia, these days Gomez lists global icons like Mavericks and Jaws as favourite waves, and she's competed in Red Bull Magnitude at Waimea. It was a trip to Cortes Bank in 2023 that solidified her love for heavy water however and set her sights on surfing more of them.
"They were definitely some of the biggest waves I've ever seen," said Gomez. "I've never seen a wave move that fast in my life, it was crazy. There's just such raw power. You’re out in the middle of nowhere and it's super eerie and weird. There’s just no other place I'd ever been to with an atmosphere like that."
Izzi Gomez at home in California
© Izzi Gomez
06
Andrew Cotton
30 min
Beneath the Surface
Big wave surfer Andrew Cotton rolls the dice on his season by choosing to explore a wave with huge potential.
Despite his humble beginnings as a plumber in Devon, Englishman Andrew 'Cotty' Cotton has grown into one of the pioneering pillars upon whom Portugal's big wave scene was first built.
Garrett McNamara's long time-tow partner, Cotty was forced to team-up with a Young Scotsman called Ben Larg in the recent Nazaré Big Wave Challenge and his performance, paired with his exploits at Cortes Bank two years earlier, proved he's still one of the best big wave surfers on the planet.
11 min
This And Nothing Else: Andrew Cotton
Andrew Cotton cares only about surfing the world's most dangerous waves.
07
Conor Maguire
10 min
Hounds of the storm
Surfer Conor Maguire's incredible latest edit treads the fine line between art and entertainment.
Ireland has well and truly landed on the international big wave surfing scene's radar lately and although it's the thought of getting barrelled in Bundooran that brings most surfers to the Emerald Isle, for the folk who live there things are getting a little busy in town and sights have been set on slightly scarier waves, of which there is an abundance.
The best of the Irish big wave pack is Conor Maguire, who combines natural talent with the requisite attention to detail and an abnormally supersized hunger for hardcore slabs to create one charging Irish mad dog who's future is looking brighter every day.
Conor Maguire and a moment of friendly celebration
© Gary McCall
The calm before the storm
© Morgan Treacy
With the hard yards done it's time to enjoy the ride
© Andrew Kilfeather
08
Kauli Vaast
Kauli Vaast on home turf in Tahiti
© Domenic Mosqueira/Red Bull Content Pool
Kauli Vaast is the Tahitian kid who's so confident when surfing at his homebreak of Teahupo'o that he once rode the tube switch in competition and put his name on the global surfing radar while doing so.
"I beat Kelly Slater in the semis," says Vaast, of his effort in 2022. "It was the first time I ever surfed against him and it was a perfect, beautiful afternoon. That was amazing, that was great."
I'm just an island boy. I'm happy at home with my family; fishing all the time, surfing with my friends and then going off to competitions. That's my life
As Vaast demonstrated in the Tahitian episode of No Contest, alongside Michel Bourez, he has an affinity for his Tahitian island home paradise, but in 2024 the greater French population flung open their arms to the young dynamo when he won a gold medal at the Paris games, while surfing at home in Tahiti. Life's crazy!
What else does the world need to know about Kauli Vaast? “I’m just an island boy. I’m happy at home with my family; fishing all the time, surfing with my friends, and then going off to competitions. That’s my life.”
Want more big wave action? Stay tuned to Red Bull TV for all of the news and updates from the TUDOR Nazaré Big Wave Challenge.
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