The all-female Red Bull Magnitude big wave contest is back for a second year
By Nicole Bosco
The all-women big-wave Red Bull Magnitude contest is set to run again for the second year.
Last year the worldwide pandemic changed the landscape of sports. Many sports organizations shut down and when they finally returned they did so without fans in attendance. The sport of surfing was no different. The World Surf League shut down the championship tour and other similar competitions were canceled as well. Luckily the onset of digital competitions began to rise and among the most popular was the Red Bull Magnitude contest.
The event was the first-ever all-female big wave contest. The format was unique and the surfers were some of the best in the world. This year the Red Bull Magnitude contest is back for a second go-around. The following is everything you need to know about the event.
What is the Red Bull Magnitude contest?
As mentioned before, the Red Bull Magnitude is a digitally run big wave contest. It is an all-female entry and takes place over three months during the winter. Athletes from all over the world can sign up and make their way to beautiful Hawaii to join in the big wave action. This year the event will run from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28.
The format
Because of the unique nature of digital contests, the Red Bull Magnitude event will be a three-month-long event. The athletes will have to submit videos of themselves riding the waves. Red Bull will be sending film crews to all the breaks that meet the requirements of being over 12 feet tall by Hawaiian Standards. The scale of measuring waves is a bit tricky to comprehend so here is a little breakdown. Judges will use the height of the rider on the wave as a scale. They will then estimate the height of the wave from the very top of the peak to the bottom. If it is 24 feet then it is all good. The Hawaiian scale usually sets a wave height as half the actual height, that is why it is 12-foot Hawaiian/24-foot regular.
If a huge swell is predicted the film crews will be on hand at that break along with a safety team for all athletes. Some places that could be eligible are Peahi, aka Jaws, Waimea Bay, and Oahu Outer Reefs. Athletes may submit videos they have filmed themselves but they must meet all the wave requirements.
The judging and prizes
Like any contest, there are prizes to be had. At the end of the three months, the athletes will have had to submit their best wave to the judges. The judges consisting of Betty DePolito, Rochelle Ballard, and Kai Lenny will go through the submissions and have the winners chosen between March 1-5, 2022.
Winners will be crowned in five categories, overall champion, best tow-in, best ride, biggest wave presented by Yeti, and a people’s choice. The Overall Champion will take home a $35,000 purse. The rest of the awards come with a $5,000 purse. The people’s choice award will be decided by fans who can vote online at RedBull.com and will carry a special non-cash prize.
Who will be participating?
The entire list of entries is not yet announced but we can take a guess based on the participating athletes from last year’s event. The winner of the overall prize last year went to Keala Kennelly.
Kennelly also brought home the prize for biggest wave for a monster she caught on the Oahu outer reef. Makani Adric was awarded runner-up and Emi Erickson was given the best ride award, so both of them should be eager to repeat or give Kennelly a run for her money. Adric also took home the people’s choice award last year. Two young guns who jumped into the deep end in the first Magnitude contest were Maddie Anzivino and Kaya Waldman. They both made a name for themselves and could be back to try and claim the big prize this year.
Raquel Heckert, Paige Alms, Annie Reickert are some other big names who will be involved in the big wave action this year. The talent pool is growing and these ladies are ready to charge at some of the most dangerous waves in the world. Women surfers only make up about 20 to 30 percent of surfers, but these powerful women are looking to show the younger generation that anything is possible.
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Stay tuned for some interviews from some of the Red Bull Magnitude contestants and more news from the event.