Kai Lenny, with the wave that won him the event.
With three minutes left on the clock in the final of the Puerto Escondido Challenge, needing a 5.99, Kai Lenny pulled into a beautiful barrel for an 8.6 to take his first Big Wave World Tour win. Lenny has captured world titles in SUP surfing but this is easily the biggest win of his career in the surfing disciplines.
Lenny, who’s also won the Molokai2Oahu event, edged out 10-time M2O-champ Jamie Mitchell in the closing seconds. Mitchell surfed a courageous event, battling through his heats with a broken sternum he suffered earlier this month. “I was bummed I missed Molokai this year, it was epic conditions,” Lenny said after. “But I made it into the semis (here) and I was like, ‘I gotta make my first final.’ I got out there in the final, started getting waves and things went my way.”
The win will vault Lenny to the top of the Big Wave World Tour rankings. Mitchell finished a strong second, England’s Tom Lowe, a native of Cornwall, also battled courageously through injury, making the final despite a bum foot. Billy Kemper finished fourth, followed by Portugal’s Alex Botelho, and Trevor Carlson ended up in sixth.
“I remember coming here last year and being terrified,” Lenny said. “There are so many good big wave surfers, when you get called up you gotta’ go. I just got pounded most of the time until my final wave. It was a pleasure competing with these guys. Any of them could have won if they’d gotten the waves. I was happy to get that wave.”
