Luke Shepardson, Waimea Bay. Photo by Bruno Lemos / Cinematographer / LemosImages.com
Surfing is gaining more and more popularity proof of this is what happened yesterday Jan 22nd on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Waimea Bay received over 60,000 spectators who watched one of the biggest shows in the world of sports. A big wave surfing championship only happens when the wave’s height exceeds 20 feet.
The last edition of “The Eddie Big Wave Invitational in Honor of Eddie Aikau” had taken place in 2016, so expectations were high for the event to take place this year.
Many speculated that the waves were predicted to be relatively large. But when the day dawned the waves were huge and the Championship took place in epic conditions.
Many surfing stars were participating including John John Florence who had won the event in 2016.
This year for the first time the women had the chance to surf side by side with the men.
At the end of the event, a very pleasant surprise, especially for organizer Clyde Aikau, Eddie’s brother, who was thrilled to hand over the 50k prize to Luke Shepardson, who works as a lifeguard at the Waimea Tower as well as an honoree at the Eddie Aikau event.
By Bruno Lemos / LemosImages.com
