Haleiwa is a pretty wild wave. Big, punchy, and incredibly fun if you can manage its power, it’s a great place to test your mettle. Which is why the World Surf League hosts the Haleiwa Challenger there. And it got big on day three.
A handful of CT hopefuls cracked the nut and qualified, including Australians Liam O’Brien and Callum Robson, Hawaii’s Imaikalani deVault, Peru’s Lucca Mesinas, and American Nat Young.
Nat Young, of course, isn’t a rookie — he fell off the tour in 2017 — but O’Brien, Robson, DeVault, and Mesinas haven’t yet felt the pressure of surfing’s biggest stage. Mesinas will be the first-ever full-time surfer on Tour from Peru.
