Eli
Hanneman
United States
·
Surfing
Date of birth | 7 November 2002 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Lahaina, Hawaii |
Age | 23 |
Nationality | United States |
Career start | 2017 |
Disciplines | Free Surfing / Surfing Competition |
Born in Maui and growing up under the watchful eye of the surfing world, future star Eli Hanneman shows little sign of the weight of expectation holding him back. Polished in and out of the water, Eli's surfing is loud but his personality is laidback.
"I'd love it if I was a kid's favourite surfer," says Eli, before confessing he wouldn't know how to respond if someone told him that. "I don’t want to come off like I don’t care, but I just really don’t know how I'd react. I’m still a grom myself!"
The world has long known of Eli's surfing talent as he first tasted competitive success in 2017 when he finished second at the Pipe Junior Pro, beating fellow Hawaiian young guns Finn McGill and Cody Young in the final.
In 2019, Eli finished third at Red Bull Airborne in Bali, Indonesia, beating some of the world's best aerialists en route to the final.
Since then he's been fighting hard against fierce competition around the world, placing second at the WSL QS Air Tahiti Rangiroa Pro in 2020, winning the WSL QS Priority Pro at home in Hawaii in 2022, and finishing third at the WSL World Junior Championships that same year, to truly announce his arrival on the global stage.
Now a fixture on the WSL Challenger Series, Eli is hungry to qualify for the WSL Championship Tour then set his sights on surfing's ultimate prize, a world title. With a win in 2023 at one of the most prestigious events on the American mainland, the US Open of Surfing, Eli has one foot in the major leagues and is ready to compete on surfing's greatest stage. Destiny awaits.