Your Big Wave World Champ: Grant Baker. Photo: Ben Ginsberg
When Grant Baker finished third at the Dive N’ Surf Oregon Pro last week, he also became the Big Wave World Champion. And no one noticed.
Twiggy’s performance this year in giant waves has been incredible. Wins in Spain and Mavericks paired with his Oregon finish guarantees his place atop the 2013/2014 BWWT throne. But there has yet to be any kind of official announcement, either from the ASP or the BWWT.
While there’s still the Todos event, even if either of the two closest competitors – Nic Lamb and Ken Collins – win and Twiggy is a no-show, the title still goes to the South African. This comes on the heels of Baker’s much publicized loss of sponsorship from Billabong, who he’d been with for twenty years.
While the Association of Surfing Professionals hasn’t officially taken the Big Wave World Tour’s reins, they are slated to do so in April. It’s interesting to remember back to Slater’s double-win in 2011. After it was announced that he had won his 11th World Title, someone ran a few numbers and realized that Slater actually needed to win one more heat. Of course, he went on to win that heat, but the second hoist of the trophy seemed a little forced.
With all the talk of pushing the Big Wave World Tour as part of the new ASP, it begs the question: why hasn’t anyone publicly congratulated Twig?
