Surfers Share Stoke About Invites to This Year's Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational

Jade Eckardt
·2 min read

There's no higher honor in the world of competitive surfing than being invited to the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay on the North Shore. Except for winning it, of course.

It's a tribute to the late and great Hawaiian lifeguard, surfer, and all-around waterman Eddie Aikau who was the first-ever lifeguard on the North Shore. The contest only ran 10 times since its inception in 1984, since the waves have to be at least 20 feet.

Last January, North Shore lifeguard Luke Shepardson took the win, and in the last few days, big wave surfers have been frothing at their invites on social media.

Aussie big wave surfer and 2001 Eddie winner Ross Clarke-Jones posted the invite above yesterday and captioned it:

"IT'S ALWAYS SUCH A SPECIAL FEELING TO BE INVITED BY MY HAWAIIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO @theeddieaikau"

Torrey Meister captioned the post above: "

"There is a very young grom inside me whose dream was to someday be in the Eddie that is jumping around for joy right now.

"I can’t tell you how honored and excited I am to be a part of this year's Eddie-it’s been a lifelong goal. Massive Mahalo to the Aikau Ohana Uncle Clyde @haa_aikau@theeddieaikau you made a dream come true today.

"Hope we get the biggest swell yet for this year's event!"

Jamie Mitchell also shared his invite on Instagram and wrote:

"Always get butterflies in the stomach when I get this in the mail. Absolute honor as always to get the invite into this magical event.

"Thank you to the Aikau Ohana and everyone involved for making this happen. Will we see back-to-back Eddies"

Maui's Paige Alms and the North Shore's Mark Healey and Eli Olson posted short thank you notes in their stories:

Mark Healey: "Let's GOOOOOOO!"

Paige Alms: "Today is a good day. Thank you"

Eli Olson: "Always an honor, praying we get a massive Eddie swell this season!"

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