Paige Alms wins the 2023 Red Bull Magnitude Overall Performance Award. Photo: Red Bull Magnitude
Paige Alms made history in January when she joined a small group of women surfing in the 2023 Eddie Aikau Invitational, the first time women had ever competed in the famed big wave event.
“It was a dream come true to surf alongside the guys and to do it on one of, if not the biggest and best, Eddie that has ever run,” Alms told Honolulu magazine after the event. “The thing about first times is it only happens once. So, to be a part of the first one with women included, it will forever be engrained in my memory bank.”
On Sunday, the Maui native followed that accomplishment up and capped off her winter as the champion of the 2023 Red Bull Magnitude, the annual all-women’s big wave competition. The event was first conceived in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions put a halt on travel and competition through much of the year. In response, Red Bull dreamt up a digital format that would stay exclusive to big wave hot spots in Hawaii — Waimea Bay, Pe’ahi, and its Outer Reefs — and committed to providing female athletes with the water safety personnel and photo/video resources to document each major swell throughout the season. Now three years running, the event has grown from 14 athletes in its first winter to more than two dozen.
Alms won awards for Best Ride and Best Paddle in the 2021-2022 event but this year’s honor is her first time getting the nod for Overall Performance, the top award for the contest.
“I’m so stoked to come out on top at Red Bull Magnitude,” she said. “This was one of the best winters in Hawaii for performance in big-wave surfing, and its an honor to be in the mix among some outstanding competitors.”
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Red Bull Magnitude Complete Results:
Overall Performance:
1st – Paige Alms
2nd – Skylar Lickle
3rd – Felicity Palmateer
4th – Bianca Valenti
5th – Katie McConnell
Best Ride: Skylar Lickle
Best Tow: Izzi Gómez
Breakthrough Performer: Felicity Palmateer
People’s Choice: Anne Dos Santos
