Keala Kennelly

A conversation with the surfing icon

Keala Kennelly is a name that’s hard to miss in the surfing community. A driven recordbreaker and LGBTQ+ activist, the 42-year-old has long dominated the waves, and shows no signs of slowing down. Growing up in a tight-knit surfing family and as a goddaughter to the legendary pro-surfer Laird Hamilton, the sport was in her blood. Now, off the back of another spectacular victory, the newly crowned Red Bull Magnitude big-wave winner opens up about the highs and lows of surfing, LGBTQ+ visibility in a male-dominated sport, and why wave cruising needs more women.

You’re now a record-breaking surfer, but how did you first get into sports?

I got into sports at a super young age – and surfing. I was literally a baby in diapers and my parents just threw me in the ocean. My dad would have me on the front of his board and I’ve been surfing as long as I can remember. I grew up in a neighbourhood where I was the only girl and I wanted to play soccer and ride BMX bikes because that’s what all the boys in the neighbourhood were doing.

Has surfing, as a sport, become more inclusive?

I feel there is still a long way to go. When I first started competing, in local surfing contests in Hawaii, there was not even enough girls surfing to even have a separate girls division, so I used to compete against the boys. From time to time, I would beat the boys and that really didn’t go over well with them. They were often really mean about it. I found that attitude towards women’s athletes horrible especially as men were always putting down our abilities and making us feel like we didn’t belong there — we always felt like second class citizens.

How did it feel to be crowned the winner of the Red Bull Magnitude big-wave contest?

Winning the Red Bull Magnitude contest was awesome, especially since I surfed through the whole event with a labral tear. Some of my other accomplishments like surfing the massive wave at Chofu, which was considered one of the top five biggest waves ever ridden by any human there (male or female), and then getting nominated for the Barrel of the Year Award was incredibly validating. The Barrel of the Year Award is considered a men’s award even though it’s an open gender category. No woman had ever been nominated for that and I was and then I won. So, it’s all been a really big glass ceiling shattering moment.

Do you think Red Bull Magnitude Big Wave empowers female competitors?

Absolutely. In the contest, the entire focus was on the women. It really helped raise everybody’s profile and boosted the sport for women, especially because it’s such a cool video format. Redbull supplied videographers that were 100 percent focused on filming the women. They had a safety crew allocated just to the women which gave you extra confidence to push your limits because you knew, if you got into a bad situation, there was going to be someone to help you. And because of the videographers filming us, we had footage of ourselves that we could post on Instagram and boost our profiles. I think it did amazing things.

What did you enjoy most in the Red Bull Magnitude Big Wave contest?

I think my favourite moment was when I got such an incredible, beautiful wave on that first swell, but also the camaraderie between competitors. All the women out there charging together cheering each other on - it was really special.

How would you like to see surfing become more accommodating to sportswomen?

I would like to see more events for women. I would like to see more coverage of women’s events. I would like to see better endorsement deals for women and to see women athletes used in the advertising. Some of the surf brands don’t actually showcase their athletes in their advertising and they hire models for their advertising and they would never do that for the male sports side of their brands.

There’s been a huge discrepancy about pay for as long as I can remember. I was part of a committee that fought for pay equality in surfing, and there’s a New York Times article about it. We were able to win pay quality, at least within the World Surfing League, and not just for the female big wave surfers, but for all females across all their platforms. But that’s just prize money. Contests, promoters that run events that are not world surf league events, they’re not required to make the prize money equal, and most of the time they don’t. As for sponsors and endorsement deals for women, there’s no comparison to what the men make.

I think they blame it on the fact that men get more. Across the board and all women’s sports like WMBA, they say men get more fans and more people watching, but it’s kind of a catch-22 because women’s sports never get primetime coverage. So of course, they don’t get the viewership, so then it’s not giving the women primetime coverage on low viewership. It’s a total catch-22.

Can you name a few of your sporting heroes?

My biggest inspiration, through all my childhood and teenage years, was Andy Irons. He was somebody I grew up with and became a three-time world champion. Unfortunately, he passed away about 10 years ago, but he was the best surfer where I grew up. I knew he was going to be the best surfer in the world or one of the best surfers in the world. So, I always moulded myself after him and wanted to surf like him. He was my biggest inspiration. But now, I take inspiration from all the women that are crushing it and sports and breaking glass ceilings.

Megan Rapinoe and Serena Williams. I think even in the women’s soccer team they’re doing so well and winning multiple championships. People like Megan Rapinoe are being so outspoken and it has really helped push the movement along. I’m a big fan of Tyler Wright. She is the only out LGBTQ+ surfer on the World Tour.

What advice would you share with a younger Keala Kennelly?

I think one of the most important things I can pass on to young aspiring athletes, or just women trying to break into male-dominated areas, is that there was a kind of attitude that women don’t belong in these areas. I think it’s really important to never set your limitations of yourself based on the opinions of other people. If I listened to everybody that told me I couldn’t surf big waves, or I couldn’t surf professionally, I went out and did it. Had I listened to other people’s perceptions of what a woman’s limitations were, I wouldn’t have accomplished even half of the things I have in my career.

What was one of the biggest challenges you faced as a female LGBTQ+ sportswoman?

There was a lot of criticism, which was really hard. There was a lot of discouragement and just not the same opportunities for women, especially when it came to accessing prize money and sponsorships.

How has your LGBTQ+ identity impacted or inspired your career?

I was in the closet for a lot of my career because I knew there would be a huge backlash to me coming out and it was going to steal opportunities from me, and it did when I did come out. But, I think that my contribution is just coming out and being visible and being outspoken about the fact that I’m LGBTQ+ in the media and being that role model for younger LGBTQ+ athletes.

If I could share something with my younger self, it would probably be the reassurance that it’s going to be okay. It’s a tough one because I definitely benefited from straight privilege when I was in the closet. There’s a part of me that wishes I could have come out sooner because I could have helped LGBTQ+ youth and athletes for longer. But at the same time, I wanted to have a successful career and I wanted to win world titles, and so I didn’t think that would be possible as an out athlete.