When the horn sounded on the WSL first-ever event at Jaws, the surfing world was in awe. For a big wave contest–or a contest of any kind, for that matter–things couldn’t have been more exciting. Jaws showed up to wearing her finest dress and her dancing shoes, and she was ready to party.
Before the clock started on the first heat, most of the world’s best big wave surfers had a go at some really, really big waves. As these things go, of course, some were successful, and some were not. Both the success and failure get more spectacular as wave size increases, and Mark Matthews, a bonafide hellman, managed to pack both incredible success and brutal failure into one wave.
Matthews made a drop that looked impossible. It surprised everyone, including him. The speed he picked up on an air-drop of epic proportions forced him to straighten out and he separated his shoulder, ending his run in the event, but solidifying his reputation as one of the hardest charging, most talented big wave riders in the world.
