@shannonreporting 🏆 North Shore on-duty lifeguard Luke Shepardson just won The Eddie in front of his home crowd! What a memorable day of big wave surfing celebrating the legacy of Eddie Aikau, gathering the masses to watch the best show of its kind. 📽 @shannonreporting #eddiewouldgo #twentyfootplus #eddieaikau #waimea #waimeabay #surf #surfer #surfing #bigwaves #bigwavesurfing #northshore #oahu #lifeguard #lifeguards #thebaycallstheday ♬ original sound – Shannon Reporting
The 10th Annual Eddie Aikau Invitational–the iconic big-wave event honoring the late Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard Eddie Aikau–ran yesterday at Waimea Bay in historic conditions. The swell was maxing, producing some waves that were closing out the entire Bay. Throngs of spectators (see the crazy footage of the crowd below) came out to watch the event–which has been on hold for the past three months while contest organizers studied the charts in anticipation of a day like yesterday.
Over the course of the day, 40 of the world’s best big-wave surfers wrangled the massive walls of water steamrolling through the lineup. But it was an on-duty Honolulu City and County lifeguard by the name of Luke Shephardson who out-performed the field of competitors, edging out defending champ John John Florence by scoring 89 out of the possible 90 points.
When asked if Shephardson thought he’d be taking the win over a star-studded list of names he responded: “I didn’t think I was but I told myself, I made it because I could win it. The waves were huge…it was a dream come true to just be a part of the Eddie…I can’t believe it.”
Shephardson looked in tune with the swell throughout his heat, perhaps channeling the hard-charging icon who inspired the creation of this legendary event. “I’ll never be as good as Eddie but he’s someone I look up to and aspire to be like,” said Shephardson, adding, fittingly, “I gotta get back to the tower to make sure everybody is okay until the end of the day.”
Continue scrolling to check out the events’s highlights from photographers, filmmers and fans who were on the scene throughout the day
@datsun_chick Replying to @melvinfreitas308 #Win #EddieAikau #Lifeguard #LukeShepardson ♬ original sound – 💄KekeManera💋
Results
8th – Keali’i Mamala
7th – Landon Mcnamara
6th – Zeke Lau
5th – Kai Lenny
4th – Billy Kemper
3rd – Mark Healey
2nd – John Florence
1st – Luke Shepardson
Original Post from this site