Maddie Anzivino and Kaya Waldman discuss the Red Bull Magnitude contest

With many surfing contests being put on hold, the Red Bull Magnitude contest is in full swing, and Maddie Anzivino and Kaya Waldman couldn’t be happier. 

The sport of surfing has changed over the course of this last year. Some contests were forced to cancel due to the ongoing global pandemic. Instead of canceling their event, The Red Bull Magnitude contest chose to adapt and follow a digital format.

The contest will take place between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28 at a few locations in Hawaii. Among the locations possible for this contest are notable big wave swells like Jaws, Waimea Bay and the North Shore. Each submittable wave must be over 15 feet tall. Two women who are entering this historic big-wave contest for the first time are Maddie Anzivino and Kaya Waldman. They sat down with FanSided to discuss the event.

“Magnitude has been pushing me a lot too,” Waldman said. “Maddie and myself, we both went out on the biggest day I think in like three or four years since the last “Eddie” so it was so awesome. I’m so grateful for Magnitude. I feel very safe in a way, I feel like I can push myself even more. All we have to do is just show up and surf.”

Red Bull is providing the women with film crews at locations and times when the swell is predicted to be going over 15 feet. There will be safety personnel on hand at each location when ridable.

“It’s definitely been cool to have a film crew and to not have the pressure of having a limited amount of time to do your best, you kind of have the whole winter to go for it,” Anzivino said. “It doesn’t really feel like a contest when we are out there. It really does just feel like surfing with friends.”

Anzivino got into surfing at 11 years old when she and her sister found a surfboard in a dumpster. She taught herself to surf in Southern California and then came to Waimea and only started riding big waves over the last few years. Anzivino is one of only two female lifeguards in her crew in Hawaii, so she is very familiar with the ocean.

“I would like to emphasize how much it means to be in this women-only big wave event, words cannot express my gratitude,” Anzivino said. “My entire life I thought of myself as a small-wave short boarder, and I was, but switched gears towards bigger surf after dealing with an episode of depression in 2018.”

This is the first big-wave contest for both of these ladies. Waldman’s mother used to take her surfing as a child, but it wasn’t until she got older that she began riding big waves. For this contest, she had to pick up and move to Oahu on one day’s notice while continuing to balance riding big waves and attending school online.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that is incredible, a big-wave surf contest for just girls.’ That’s like a dream of mine, I had never heard of anything like that,” Waldman said. “In 2019 I surfed the Pipe contest and then I got invited to Red Bull Queen of the Bay so this year again. I dedicated my whole last year of training to this. This is something that is really special to me.”

Following the last day of surfing for this contest, they will have two weeks at the beginning of March to decide the winner of the $25,000 “Overall Performance” winning prize. There are also “Runner Up,” “Best Ride,” and “Biggest Wave” winners that will receive $5,000 each. The judges for this contest include surfing pioneers Rochelle Ballard, Betty DePolito, Kai Lenny and Mark Healey.