Imaikalani had a long, windy road of competition this year. Photo: Tony Heff//World Surf League
The 2022 Championship Tour rookie class was tested in a pretty unique way. After earning qualification to the CT on the all-new Challenger Series, they found themselves with only half a season to prove their worth and earn a spot on tour for the back half of the season, and into next year. Some survived, and some didn’t, like Imaikalani deVault, a surprising result given the strength of his start – like a 9th-place finish at Bells Beach where he defeated Kelly Slater one on one.
The Maui native finished this year’s Challenger Series just a few points shy of where he needed to in order to re-qualify for the CT, but from our conversation ahead of the Vans Pipe Masters, it would seem the 24-year-old is confident in his ability to make it back on tour. He feels like he’s learned a lot in the past year and was grateful for time away from it all. If there’s one word to sum up his mindset, it’d be “grounded.”
What’s going on in the life of Imaikalani deVault?
Not a lot right now, I just had a week to go home and relax after Haleiwa, which was really nice as it’s been a long year. It started last January with Pipeline, and been pretty non-stop since then. After Margaret River I went straight into CS competition, which just wrapped up a week ago at Haleiwa, so just having some time right now to decompress has been awesome.
Are you ready to hit the ground once the CS starts in 2023 or are you any less interested in the competitive grind now?
I’m definitely going to give it another go, my dreams and goals have always been CT-oriented. I don’t just want to make it on but I want to be successful on tour as well. And while making it on tour last year was awesome, I didn’t feel like I did what I expected myself to do. But it was a tough year to be on tour, to have the new cut to deal with and then go straight into the Challenger Series meant basically a full year of competing. But it felt like two years in one after competing on both the CT and the CS. Now that the CS doesn’t start until May, I’m stoked to have a bit of a break.
How are you and the rest of the 2022 rookie class feeling about the cut now that the dust has settled?
At least as far as what I experienced, I mean, nobody’s stoked to have that added pressure on their first season on the CT. It’s already hard, and a huge adjustment from the QS and CS. It was cool to see some of the older athletes on tour standing up for us and voicing their opinions on the subject, but in the end the WSL makes the rules.
What did you find hard to adjust to?
Just not having the same experience as the other guys on tour. They know the waves in a different way after spending years returning to the same places, whereas there were a few locations I had never surfed before. And the level of competition on the CT is just insane. You go from being a top dog to surfing against Kelly Slater. I did beat him at Bells Beach though, which is something I’m really proud of.
How did that feel?
I mean, that’s the dream, like what I’ve always imagined. And I’m stoked to have had a few good results, I may not have made the cut but I didn’t come in last place every event. I had a good result at Bells, some really high-scoring waves at Sunset. I know and am confident in the level I can compete at, but I’m still working on gaining that experience to put it all together. Like when I get back there I know I’m just going to be so much stronger.
What are some of those things you’ve learned for next year?
I learned a lot, but I think my biggest takeaway would just be surfing smarter heats. Before this last year I would kind of just rely on my ability as a surfer, but I’ve realized how it matters a lot more than you think to be strategic. The reason why I lost a lot of the heats I did this year was just making little mistakes that, if I knew what I did now I would definitely do differently. Another thing is understanding what boards I need for different waves. For example at Bells, even though I got my best result there, I didn’t realize I was going to need more Hawaii-type boards, and felt like I wasn’t riding the best equipment for those conditions that I could have been. Between all that and learning how to adjust on the go there’s been a lot I’ve figured out for this upcoming CS and for when I get back on the CT.
