Keala Kennelly wins Big Wave Barrel of the Year award. Celebrates with dazzling kiss!
If you’re kicking around on a computer right now, y’might be watching the WSL Big Wave awards.
And what could’ve been a low-rent show of B-graders ramming their “humble” sentiments down our throats has so far turned out to be the coolest thing the WSL has ever put its name to.
Rowdy crowds, Strider Wasilewski and Dave Wassel in brilliant form. A fine tribute to Brock.
And, half an hour ago, big-surfing, wait…surfing… got its first great queer moment.
Announced as the winner of the barrel of the year award, the 37-year-old surfer Keala Kennelly whipped her arms around actor girlfriend Nikki DiSanto and drank her kisses with gusto.
And on stage, Keala delivered a speech that could form a text for all those girls who live to confirm to the male ideal.
Let’s examine.
“They say behind every great man there’s a great woman,” Keala said. “But sometimes behind a great woman there’s…a great woman. I have the most extraordinary woman behind me, on my my side. Nikki DiSanto.What I lack in sponsorship dollars, you make up for in love and support.
“When I was a little girl I didn’t want to be a little girl. I kept hearing I couldn’t do all things because I was a little girl, because I was a woman, woman can’s surf… ok, woman can surf but… women can’t get barrelled… woman can’t surf big waves… woman can’t surf Pipeline… and women can’t surf Chopes…women can’t paddle Jaws… woman can’t get barrelled at Jaws… so who I really, really want to thank is everybody in my life who told me you can’t do that because you’re a woman. Because that drove me to dedicate my life to proving you wrong…
“And it’s been so damn fun…”
More on the awards later…
yessssss. so rad.
Which bathroom did she use?
good question considering her sizeable cojones
I once took KK out to dinner with Layne Beachley, Steph Gilmore and Pam Burridge. We got a bit drunk and KK went to the “bathroom” and so did I. When we got back, Layne said “Did you two go to the same bathroom?” KK said, “Yes. We compared cocks. Mine was bigger.”
She’s badass enough to just piss on the floor in plain sight. I dare somebody to say something to her.
Pedro Calado wave was bigger than Aaron Gold, XXL did what they always do, decide for the friends. ABout Keala, i love lesbians, they are really cute.
For a ‘rad’, counter culture activity/sport, surfing is stupefyingly conservative (hello $ interests + dumb arse blokes). Well done KK, you’re making a difference.
Yesss
I heart Keala!!!!!!!!!
yeah, yeah, so cute… let’s see if hypocrites gonna have the same cheerful reaction when johnjohn kiss his boyfriend on stage…
I damn well hope JJ kisses his boyfriend! That would be brilliant.
why wouldn’t they?
your answer is in richie collins’ comments…
Alright, I gotta call bulls#!t. I love ShaneO but either Albee or Nathan Florence won that ROTY. And if Shane wasn’t sponsored by Billabong I figure he would have been more outspoken about it. Oh well, let the shit talking begin.
I love all 3 of those surfers and rides as well. But you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think Shane’s wave was the gnarliest of the three. Nathan’s wave was the best wave ever ridden at teahupoo, but frankly, there’s a hundred other surfers who could’ve pulled that wave if presented with the opportunity, his brother, slater, Bruce, Wardo, Manoa, Kerr, etc. Now count the individuals that could backdoor a 30ft barrell on a 10ft gun. I think the fact that it’s Dorian almost takes away from the gnarliness of the wave, cause he pulls that shit every year, seemingly with ease. But if the surfer on that same wave was say, John John or Mason or Alex Gray, I don’t think anyone would be questioning it as the winning wave. They’d be claiming it.
This raises the question of which wave he won with. I haven’t figured it out yet. Regardless, if it’s the barrel wave, he hardly got barreled. It kinda misted him. Trust me, I live about 10 minutes from Shane and I think he’s a fu@#ing beast, every year, but you’ll never convince me that his ride was better than Albee’s. Not even close.
So it was the barrel. Personally I thought the one where his board went sideways in the wind was better. The shoulder view of his barrel ride wasn’t that impressive(comparatively). Shit if you want to shoot video from the other side if the peak then I get barreled 200 times a year.
You just confirmed what I was saying abou it being Dorian and not some random guy who would’ve been hailed as a hero for that same wave. For you to even suggest “he hardly even got barreled” is ludicrous. We’re not talking about a head dipping barrel dodge at 3ft Banyans. We’re talking about a 30ft wave and the skill it takes to even get yoyrself in that position. You’re suggesting he should’ve been deeper?? Do yourself a favor and read the new Surfer. Albee described that wave. He said he was paddling for that same wave but pulled back cause Shane was “100ft deeper.”
Hell of a wave, I would never turn on it or even be out there other than in a boat. But we’re not talking about just that wave, we’re talking about every big wave last season, and that wasn’t the best imo. Like I said, he barely got barreled.
I think Dorian got it because his wave was bigger and he had full control from beginning to end; complete smoothness; Albee’s barrel was better but Shane’s was bigger. Also, Shane’s claim was way more reserved; they probably docked Albee due to the chest pounding.
Like I said, it was a hell of a wave. I just don’t agree that it was the best ride of the year. It’s not the biggest wave award, that’s a different category. It’s ride of the year. I have no problem with Albee’s claim in that situation. That was probably the best barrel out there ever other than ShaneO’s wave from October 2013.
Albee’s wave was about 10ft smaller than Dorian’s too.
The biggest wave award is a different category.
It’s the difficulty in getting a DEEPER barrel on a wave 10ft bigger. I’m not saying that the size of the wave is the reason he should’ve won over Albee. The bigger the wave the harder it is to get deep. You should know that regardless of how good you surf or don’t. How many deep tubes do you see at 12ft sunset versus 6 ft backdoor? I can guarantee you that Albee has gotten barreled longer and deeper at Honlua than his wave at jaws. Why was he thumping his chest like he just won a world title at pipe? Cause it was probably the biggest barrel he’s ever gotten and he knows how difficult it is to get barreled as the waves GET BIGGER. Why was Shane clapping, when he never claims and we’ve all seen him get deeper barrels than that on smaller waves? He shouldn’t have claimed it cause he “hardly got barreled?” You’re insinuating “kook of the day” type status on a 30ft tube bro.
Yep, kook of the day. ShaneO, what a donkey. Seriously though, he has claimed his share at Peahi. And no, I’m not saying it’s easy but Shane’s wave actually didn’t have much foam ball and he could have done a little more of a bottom turn to fade it a little and then pulled up a little higher and gotten more barreled, which is exactly what Albee did(though that appears to have been a bit of luck because he was hung up on top for a second). Whatever, it’s just my opinion. It’s ride of the year and, while Shane’s wave was massive and super sick, Albee and Nathan’s rides were more extreme. Again, my opinion. And one final note, people get barreled more at back door mostly because it’s a more predictable barrel than sunset, not so much because of the size(though size may play some part). And generally speaking there are two reasons people don’t get that barreled on big waves, there aren’t many huge waves that stay open consistently, and it takes massive balls to put yourself in a position to pack a barrel like that, and few have em that big.
Surf coach school?
Surf couch school.
You just validated the point for Shane’s “hardly got BIGGER barrel”.. “And generally speaking there are two reasons people don’t get that barreled on big waves, there aren’t many huge waves that stay open consistently, and it takes massive balls to put yourself in a position to pack a barrel like that” Why is Brock’s Waimea tube still celebrated to this day when he wasn’t in there for more than a second? Because I t’s rare. And I can guarantee you that if someone ever get tubed on that burger of a wave that is Nazarene at 30ft, it will be deemed just as gnarly cause of the sheer size of the wave and not how deep they got.
If Shane had gotten more than a shampoo I would agree with you. It actually seems like you’re making the case for Albee’s wave, talking about how hard it is to get deep on a big wave. That was a legit 15 footer and he spent a couple seconds right on the edge of the foam ball.
the front on angle he fully disappears for long enough, its just that one angle that makes looks like he hardly got barrelled
That’s not the front angle, it’s from the left side of the peak. It always looks like you get barreled from over there. You can see perfectly well how barreled he got from the shoulder angle.
I voted for the barrel wave. Like, are you MAD? Actually I judged the rides of the year using a 20/20 score and gave Shane’s drop 19, Shane’s barrel 20, and Nathan’s Chopes barrel 20, but gave it to Shane because, fuck, I dunno! The wave was 200 feet bigger!
Oh I gave Albee’s barrel 19 too.
nobody asked…
For me ROTY is about the ride being exciting. All of the four waves we’ve mentioned were sufficiently large as to be consequential. The only one that didn’t really give me that extra impression of excitement was Shane’s barrel. Am I punishing him for being too good and in control? Maybe. Am I also punishing him for not getting as deep as(maybe only) he could have? Definitely. We’re talking about handing out points for surfing so it’s obviously a subjective fantasy world and in my subjective fantasy world that’s my scoring criteria. To win ROTY you’ve got to make it look really exciting.
Fair enough. I kinda went the other way in my subjective fantasy head, I thought the exhibition of timing and control on that wave was perfect and super critical.