Keala Kennelly

Keala Kennelly, born in 1978 and from Kauai, Hawaii, is a professional surfer, DJ and actress known for her big-wave and barrel riding. She turned professional at seventeen, finished second on the World Qualifying Series in 1997 and then spent about a decade in the top ten of the ASP World Championship Tour. She won at Teahupoo in Tahiti four times, in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003, and in 2003 she peaked at number one in the rankings and took the Triple Crown of Surfing. She won a team gold medal at the 2007 Summer X Games, towed in at Teahupoo in 2005 as the first woman to do so, and won the first women big wave contest at the Nelscott Big Wave Classic in 2010. She was the 2018 Big Wave World Champion, and she has acted in Blue Crush and John from Cincinnati.