Keala Kennelly is no stranger to heavy water. A Kauai native and former Championship Tour surfer, she has won numerous Big Wave Awards honors for her pioneering prowess around the world. So it was no surprise, then, when she took the first wave of the Final at the Women's Pe'ahi Challenge, earning a 7.17 and jumping into the lead. She went on to get clipped by the heavy lip, and slipped into second place overall. But Kennelly set the tone for the hour, testing her mettle at a place that sidelined her this time last year, at the first-ever women's event at Pe'ahi.
