Surfline Performance of the Year Awards Nominee - Pedro Calado

Pedro Calado - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Big Wave Tour ranking: Second

Pedro Calado has had a great three-year run, and it has seen his untrammeled approach to the biggest waves get him into some amazing places, including a second place on the Big Wave Tour rankings, right behind Grant Baker.

Watch the Big Wave Awards LIVE April 29 at 8 p.m./PST. Catch every nomination here.

In May 2015 Pedro was the surfer that paddled out into giant Puerto Escondido and went for one of the biggest lefts of the day. Perfect execution and perfect style should have seen him standing up inside the biggest left tube of the day, but instead he pearled disastrously, and did a few somersaults and some unintentional body-surfing before getting slammed by a mountain of beach-break whitewater. Among wipeout fans the world over, his name became famous.

Not wishing to rest on these so-called "laurels," Pedro went one bigger in 2016 by paddling into one of the biggest lefts ever paddled into at Pe'ahi. He made it to the bottom cleanly but at the same time, a mountain of whitewater landed on his head and engulfed him. It was this wave that saw him stand for the Surfline Performance of The Year Awards in 2016, but Shane Dorian won it for his consistent and inspired performances last season.

Pedro's performances included a third place behind Twig (first) and Greg Long (second) at the inaugural Puerto Escondido Challenge, a fifth place at the challenging Pe'ahi Challenge, and a solid fifth-place finish at the madness that was the Nazaré Challenge.

He finished close to 3,000 points behind Twig Baker at the final tally, and just a breath ahead of Greg Long in third. Pedro is a strong contender for this award for a great year of surfing.