Josie Rozell
Staff Writer
When Keala Kennelly (43) began to surf professionally at the age of 17, she was one of the few female surfers to make a mark in big-wave surfing. Her aggressive approach to catching waves was inspired by her upbringing, surfing with legends like Andy and Bruce Irons and Laird Hamilton in Kauai. She would inspire future legends like Bianca Valenti, Andrea Moller, and Paige Alms and would later become a founding member of the Committee for Equity in Women's Surfing.
Kennelly is a pioneer in many ways. The first openly gay surfer to have won a world surfing title and one of the few champions in shortboard and longboarding competitions, all while surfing goofy-footed. To say she was a fearless surfer would be true and false. Kennelly herself said, "fear is good. Fear helps keep you alive. To have fear is to know that there are severe consequences. To be fearless is to be ignorant to those consequences, and that is very dangerous."
But what Kennelly can do in waves, only a few people in the world can do. In 2011 she was surfing Teahupo'o in Tahiti, a break known for heavy, glassy waves that break on a shallow reef. The Tahitian government had issued a "Code Red," a warning label banning the surrounding seas of boats and watercraft when Kennelly lined up for her wave. She hit her mark and swung down the long, unbroken face of the wave, then pivoted lightly on her board and was successfully barrelled. Unfortunately, something shifted underneath her board, and Kennelly hit a bump, wiping out into the enclosing wave. She hit the reef with her face, surfacing covered in blood. Kennelly had to undergo extensive face-reconstruction surgery—and when fully recovered, she returned to surf Teahupo'o.
In 2016, Kennelly won the WSL Big Wave Award for Barrel of the Year, beating out other competitors like Ian Walsh and Greg Long. This award was a career highlight, essentially the "Oscars" of big-wave surfing.
Rolling Stones once described her as "Hawaii's big wave amazon," and Kelly Slater said of her, "the craziest guy of all is a girl." When not surfing, Kennelly makes music as DJ KK, acts in various surf films, and advocates for gay rights and gender equality.
