Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as the technique the surfer uses to reach the wave. A larger, longer board allows a rider to paddle fast enough to catch the wave and has the advantage of being more stable, but it also limits maneuverability and surfing speed.
Rip Curl is a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of surfing sportswear and accompanying products, and a major athletic sponsor. Rip Curl has become one of the largest surfing companies in Australia, Europe, South America, North America and South Africa. Globally, Rip Curl is considered a successful member of the "Big Three", of the surf industry alongside Quiksilver and Billabong.
The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a reef. Pipeline is known for huge waves that break in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef, forming large, hollow, thick curls of water that surfers can tube ride. There are three reefs at Pipeline in progressively deeper water farther out to sea that activate according to the increasing size of approaching ocean swells.
Shaun Tomson is a South African professional surfer and former world champion, environmentalist, actor, author, and businessman. He has been listed among the top 10 surfers of the century, and was the 1977 World Surfing Champion.
Patrick Shane Dorian, or "Shane", is an American surfer from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He spent 11 years touring on the World Championship Tour as a professional surfer. Dorian quit competition surfing in 2003 to focus on big waves. He is currently a big wave surfer and one of the best in the world at big wave riding.
Thomas Victor Carroll is an Australian former professional surfer from Sydney. He won the Australian Junior Title in 1978, the Pro Juniors in 1977 and 1980, the 1983 and 1984 ASP World Tour, and the 1987 Pipe Masters. He became the first surfing millionaire after signing a contract with Quiksilver in 1989.
Margo Oberg was the first female professional surfer in the world. She won her first competition at the age of 11, won her first world title at 15, and became the first professional female surfer in 1975.
Clifton James Hobgood is an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship surfer. He has a twin brother, Damien. They both compete in top-tier professional surfing events around the world.
Surf forecasting is the process of using offshore swell data to predict onshore wave conditions. It is used by millions of people across the world, including professionals who put their forecasts online, meteorologists who work for news crews, and surfers all over the world. It is impossible to make an exact prediction of the surf, but by knowing a few factors a good prediction can be made. One needs to have an understanding of how waves are formed, a basic knowledge of bathymetry, and information about the surf spot being forecasted to accurately forecast the surf.
Makuakai (Makua) Rothman is an American big wave rider, professional surfer and musician. On February 28, 2015, he was crowned the 2015 Big Wave World Champion in the World Surf League's (WSL) first sanctioned Big Wave World Tour (BWWT).
Chile has many beaches for surfing, especially in the northern region where the weather conditions attract many surfers from all over the world. Except for the winter months surfing is possible all year. The water temperature ranges from 15 to 20 °C. Although the waves in central Chile are bigger, the waves in the north are stronger and are usually better suited for surfing. The cold waters of central and southern Chile can be brutal to surf, therefore, surfers adventuring into those areas are strongly advised on using a protective wetsuit to protect against the elements.
Peter Mel, is an American professional surfer. Mel began his surfing life in Capitola, California before moving on to Santa Cruz. He is known as a 'big wave' surfer and son of John Mel, a four time surfing National Champion.
Peter Townend, also known as PT, is an Australian surfer and first IPS/ASP World Surfing Champion.
Surfline is a company and website based in Huntington Beach, California that specializes in surf forecasting and surf reports, live webcasting, photography, videography, as well as editorial coverage of the sport of surfing. Surfline.com is now ranked 1,180 in the US and 5,784 in the world in terms of popularity compared to other websites and is now the largest provider of streaming HD coastal cams. Since 2003 it has taken on buoyweather.com and fishtrack.com (2012), on average the family of websites receives 175,000 visitors per day. The site includes streaming video, surf reports and forecasts. Surfline.com offers over 500 streaming cameras at 150 surf breaks, and is one of the larger surf cam websites. Surfline currently has approximately 50 employees.
Sean Robb Collins was the American founder of Surfline and a noted figure in the areas of surfing and surf forecasting.
Sean Mattison is an American former professional surfer and current professional surf coach, most known for designing "The Nubster", a fifth surfboard fin. Mattison is also the designer of his own alternative high performance surfboards and surfboard fins named Von-Sol.
Ricardo dos Santos was a Brazilian surfer. Dos Santos reached the quarterfinals at the 2012 Billabong Pro event in Tahiti in defeating among others Kelly Slater. At the aforementioned Tahitian tourney he was also presented with the Andy Irons award, bestowed upon the event's most determined competitor. He reached a career high Association of Surfing Professionals QS ranking of 62 in 2011.
Surfing at the Summer Olympics made its debut in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but was postponed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following is the qualification system and qualified athletes for the Surfing at the 2019 Pan American Games competitions.
