I would like to start out by saying thank you, thank you for picking me out of all of the big wave XXL award nominees to claim first place for riding the biggest wave in the world, and for this awesome prize of $500,000. I can’t even describe in words how much receiving this award means to me. For most of my life I have been chasing big waves, always hungry for the next wave I get to be even bigger and gnarlier then the last. So to be standing here right now holding this trophy, it feels almost surreal like I am in a dream, like I really can not believe that I rode the biggest wave in the world. But I can promise you that I will never stop chasing big waves, and I hope that one day there is a wave bigger then this one out there and that I will be the one riding it. But I did not get to where I am at right now on my own. So I would like to give thanks to a few special people in my life that help make my dreams come true. First off, my personal trainer Makua Rothman, if it weren’t for that man sitting right there, I would in no way have been in the shape that I am now for riding big waves. Let alone this macking 123ft. beast in portugal that luckily landed me first place in this competition. But I can not leave out my tow partner Andy Irons. Because if it was not for him and the amazing skills that he has in riding giant waves, I would not have been able to ride the wave that lead me to this $500,000 pay day. I need him to survive out there, because if I go down, I know that through all of our years spent together, training out in huge surf around the world, that this man is one of the best, and that I can trust him with my life in his hands. Whenever I get put into a heavy
