PO‘IPU — Four Kaua‘i surfers are headed to the World Surf League’s first full-length Challenger Series.
The Challenger, which made a limited debut in 2021, will span eight events held across the globe. It’s the new stepping-stone between the WSL’s Qualifying Series and the Championship Tour — the pinnacle of competitive surfing.
Po‘ipu’s Kainehe Hunt and Brianna Cope are top-ranked qualifiers in the Challenger’s Hawai‘i region.
Both are thrilled to embark on this next stage of their careers, when the series begins in Australia on May 7.
“This is what me and Brianna have worked hard for our whole lives,” Hunt told The Garden Island, prior to surfing at Keoneloa Bay (Shipwreck Beach) last Sunday. “We’ve dedicated our lives to surfing in the ocean.”
The 20-year-old Hunt is ranked No. 1 in Hawai‘i heading into the men’s Challenger Series.
He could swim by age 2 and has surfed in the WSL since 2016. He’s sponsored by Volcom, the CBD company Catalyst, Hawaiian Island Creations, Kerry Tokoro, Blak Bear Surf Club and Carve Eyewear.
But Hunt has been on hiatus since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic, a persistent knee injury and adulthood upset his routine.
“I moved out of my own house and started becoming an adult a little bit,” Hunt said. “I started my own (yard maintenance) LLC, just trying to get through life with bills and stuff.”
Cope, who is the second-ranked woman in the Challenger’s Hawai‘i region, has also been busy.
Last year, she starred on “The Ultimate Surfer,” an ABC reality television show featuring Kelly Slater.
The show’s top male and female surfers each won a $100,000 cash prize and wild card entry into three WSL Championship Tour events. Cope just missed out, finishing as the women’s runner-up.
“I definitely focused a lot on that, and all the exposure that came in,” the 27-year-old said. “It was a little bit of a distraction, honestly, to competing. So, I’m really excited to just have my competition season to focus on.”
Cope is sponsored by Fitaid, Nuzest, Ion, Kukui‘ula and Lava Rubber.
Sponsors, Cope explained, are crucial to young surfers’ pursuit.
“It’s the only way it makes our dreams possible,” she said.
A third surfer is preparing for the Challenger on Kaua‘i’s North Side.
Princeville’s Keala Tomoda-Bannert is entering the women’s series ranked No. 4 in Hawai‘i.
She is slightly circumspect when discussing the new series format. It costs to travel the world at her current level, even with sponsorships.
“Once you hit the Challenger Series, that’s when you can make your money,” Tomoda-Bannert explained. “But just getting there alone is pretty hard, because we have Australia, we have South Africa, and there’s Brazil.”
There are events scheduled in Hawai‘i, California, Portugal and France as well. But make no mistake: she is an avid traveler and ready to return to her favorite destination, Australia.
The Challenger kicks off with the Boost Mobile Gold Coast Pro in Queensland, followed by the GWM Sydney Surf Pro at Manly Beach.
Tomoda-Bannert has competed at Manly Beach in the past. It reminds her of Pine Trees in Hanalei Bay.
“I think that’s why I love Australia,” the 20-year-old sponsored by Body Glove and Waves Yoga Kaua‘i said. “Because I feel closest to home there than any other country I’ve visited.”
Cope and Hunt also prefer Kaua‘i to all other surf spots.
“Surfing on Kaua‘i, it’s all our friends and family. It doesn’t matter where it is,” Cope said.
But to change their lives, all three surfers will have to win off-island, in the Challenger Series and beyond.
Each Championship Tour event carries a $100,000 first-place purse.
“We’re one step closer to our dreams. We’ve been working since we were kids for this,” Cope said. “Getting to this level, it’s like we’re almost there. We can feel it.”
The top 10 men and top five women of the 2022 Challenger Series will qualify for next year’s Championship Tour.
The fourth Kauaian on this year’s Challenger is big-wave surfer Keala Kennelly.
•••
Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
