Last Week Was A Monster One For The World Of Surfing

As one of the three "pioneers of Chicago surfing" (ChicagoSUPs words, not mine), Donny, and White Sox Dave being the other two, I feel I'd be remiss not to show respect to our fellow surfers who made some major noise last week in the surfer world.

First off, we had a new champ crowned for the pooches. 

ABC LA - The pandemic has delayed, postponed or canceled many events, including an annual dog surfing contest in California.

The Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon usually takes place in September at Del Mar Dog Beach in Del Mar, California, but this year's competition was held virtually - accepting videos of dogs surfing from anywhere in the world.

Four-legged friends were divided based on weight class and judged on categories including length of ride, size of wave ridden, maneuvers such as walking on the board, turns on the wave, and barking.

The Best in Surf prize eventually went to Sugar, a 10-year-old champ from Huntington Beach, California.

Proceeds from this event go to Helen Woodward Animal Center, an animal shelter

Here's a pic of this year's Champ, Sugar, shredding the gnar.

Personally, this gal would have got my vote for style alone. But who am I to judge?

If you want to watch the entire video here it is.

Next, we had major news, as in new world record from a female surfer from Brazil.

The Atlantic - It’s a moment we don’t often see in sports: a woman beating a man. But that’s exactly what was announced Thursday, when the World Surf League reported that the Brazilian big-wave surfer Maya Gabeira set a new world record. The 73.5-foot wave she surfed on February 11 in Nazaré, Portugal, was the largest wave surfed by anyone this year, earning Gabeira the WSL’s 2020 women’s XXL Biggest Wave Award. It also broke her own previous record, a 68-foot wave. By contrast, this year’s men’s XXL Biggest Wave Award winner, Kai Lenny, rode a 70-foot wave.

But Gabeira’s historic win was light on fanfare, with the news hampered by an uncharacteristically long delay (about four weeks after the men’s announcement), and also because her achievement was subject to a brand-new and completely different set of measuring criteria than was required for the men’s waves. The situation highlights a rare and missed opportunity to challenge widespread ideas about women’s athletic inferiority.

The WSL’s Big Wave Awards are like the Oscars of surfing, usually a live event in May where the men’s and women’s rides are acknowledged with categories such as Ride of the Year, Biggest Paddle, and even Wipeout of the Year. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, however, this year’s awards were given out weekly throughout the summer via social media. The XXL Biggest Wave Award honors the year’s biggest waves surfed, many reached via tow-in surfing as opposed to arm paddling. Both the men’s and women’s awards in this category were due to be doled out together on August 17—but on that date, while Lenny was announced as the winner via video, the WSL said the women’s race needed further judging and would be delayed.

Look at this wave.

Outrageous.

How does that come crashing down on top of you and you live to tell the tale? 

Hats off to Gabeira for topping her 2018 record and setting herself apart as the entire world's record holder.