Two big things happened in women’s surfing Monday on Maui.
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore clinched her seventh world championship at the Beachwaver Maui Pro at Honolua Bay.
And in monster 35- to 50-foot waves at Pe‘ahi, Hanalei’s Keala Kennelly captured the Women’s Jaws Challenge.
Gilmore won her first- and third-round heats on 6- to 8-foot wave faces, and the only other world-tour title contender still left entering the event, Lakey Peterson of Santa Barbara, Calif., was eliminated in the second round. That also took Peterson out of the world title race. The Maui Pro — the last stop on the women’s championship tour — will continue today if there are contestable waves.
“I don’t know how to feel,” Gilmore said. “I wasn’t expecting this to happen right now. I can’t even believe it. It’s so cool. Surfing means everything to me. Ever since I was a little girl, surfing has been all I can think about. It’s my first love.”
Kennelly’s two scoring waves in the final round of the Women’s Jaws Challenge gave her enough points for the victory. She got a 2.67 for her first wave and a 2.97 on her second. The points for each surfer’s best wave are doubled, so she finished with an 8.61 total. Brazil’s Andrea Moller finished second at 7.97.
Sunset Beach’s Emily Erickson had the best wave of the day — a 3.93 — but it was the only one she caught and so she finished in third at 7.86. Haiku’s Paige Alms, who won the inaugural women’s Jaws event in 2016 and successfully defended the title in 2017, finished fourth.
Kennelly won $20,000 for the victory at Jaws, which is a stop on the WSL’s Big Wave Tour.
The men’s Jaws Challenge got through only one heat Monday before the waves became too massive and unruly. Haiku’s Billy Kemper, South Africa’s Grant Baker and Australia’s Russell Bierke made it through to the semifinals. The next call for the men is today at 7 a.m.
The Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach on Oahu did not have the right conditions to run Monday. That contest, the second stop in the Vans Triple Crown and the final stop on the WSL’s men’s qualifying series, started on Sunday with the first round and will resume with the second round on the next surfable day. The next call is today at 8 a.m.