Kai Lenny has been pushing the limits of what’s possible in big wave surfing for years. He’s a rare breed; one who doesn’t just look to break the boundaries that others have put in place, but one who looks to break the ones he’s already built.
In the latest episode of Red Bull‘s Life of Kai, we’re awarded a front row seat to a day that will forever be lodged in our memories: Super Swell Saturday.
The Hawaiian islands were the focus of a swell of enormous proportions. Oahu’s outer reefs were next level. The regular reefs were maxed to the point of being unsurfable. And Jaws? Well, Jaws was almost unbelievably big. Which, of course, are the conditions that Kai Lenny lives for. Jaws is Kai’s home break, and it’s possible he knows the ins and outs of it about as well as one can know them. It takes a lot to surf the kinds of waves that Kai surfs, and in order to do so, he aims to be the most well-rounded surfer he can be. That means training in all conditions. Training at wave pools like the one at Waco. Which, as strange as it may sound, makes a lot of sense.
“I think one of the most difficult things about training is consistency,” he explains. “It’s not about necessarily about being able to just do it. It’s about being able to do it solid. It’s about being so confident and comfortable I could do it in my sleep. I don’t have to spot the landings. I can just feel with the air around me where I’m at. Until I get to that point, it’s not going to translate onto a big wave very well.”
After Waco, Kai flew back home to Maui. By the time he returned, though, he was just about out of gas. But when the swell that would eventually produce Super Swell Saturday showed up on the forecasts, Kai couldn’t pass it up.
“It’s very rare in one season do you get the biggest swell ever at Nazaré, the biggest swell ever at Maverick’s, and maybe the biggest swell ever at Jaws,” he said. “Everything was culminating and I felt like my tank was running dry, but the will to perform and to take my skills to that next level — finally the opportunity arose to take that opportunity in my backyard.”
When they showed up in the Jaws lineup, it was around 10 a.m. It was immediately apparent that this day would be a little different than others, and Kai felt reinvigorated.
“I was ready for whatever came in,” he remembered. “But it didn’t go to plan. It was a total circus. There were people on Jet Skis that had never been out there. There were tons of windsurfers and kiters. It was downright dangerous out there.”
As I said, though, Kai is a local at Jaws. It’s his home break. Still, though, emotions were running high, and tensions were higher.
“There were a lot of people who wanted waves. I get it. But there are these guys who are yelling at you like, ‘what are you doing! You’re in my way!’ Calling me out like I haven’t been putting in the time or it isn’t my spot. It was crazy. I respect everyone out there, but you have to respect me too.”
Despite the mayhem — or perhaps because of it — the best surfers out there were revealed. And Kai, as you’d expect, was at the top of the heap. Still, though, the day was not a smooth one. Which is to be expected on a day like Super Swell Saturday. Lost Jet Skis, lost surfboards, and horrendous wipeouts were all part of it. Kai’s Jet Ski, in fact, was washed not only onto the infamous Jaws rocks, but far beyond them and into the river. Kai took it as a test — a mindset that probably is the same one that put him at the top of the big wave surfing world.
“How I come out of this will define who I am for the rest of my life. And so I decided in that moment to forget the Jet Ski, go back out, and get the biggest waves I possibly can.”
And that decision, folks, is why Kai Lenny is the best big wave surfer on Earth — not only for his skill, but for his dedication to overcoming any and all obstacles in his way.
