Makuakai Rothman: The (unofficial) 2014 BWT world champion

Stu Nettle picture
Stu Nettle (stunet)
Talking Heads

makua_rothman_hawaii.jpgToday is February 23rd. In five days the waiting period for the last Big Wave Tour event of the season will close and when that happens the man at the top of the rankings, Makuakai Rothman, will officially become the 2014 Big Wave World Champion. It's an unlikely but highly deserved world title from the Hawaiian.

When the 12 invitees for 2014 were announced Rothman's name wasn't among them. However, he got a wildcard start into the Billabong Pico Alto where an inspired performance – his daughter Hikianalia was born just hours before he boarded the plane – saw him jag first place.

A second place finish at Punta Galea saw his lead extended, and as the waiting period to the remaining comps ran out the status quo remained: Makuakai Rothman - 1st place.

Swellnet spoke to Makuakai during a short gap between putting his daughter to bed and the WSL calling around to tape a production for the official announcement.

How does 'Makuakai Rothman – World Champion' sound?
Is it official yet?

No, I'm just trying to get a jump on the media that's sure to call.
I thought you must've heard something. Like an announcement. Anyway, I don't believe it yet. The WSL are sending a production crew around right now and maybe when they say it I'll have to start believing it.

It's an unlikely win as you weren't amongst the Top 12 invitees this year.
It is, it is, but I worked really hard for this. I put my life into this.

You won Pico Alto after making a last-minute decision to fly over.
It was so tense, brah. We saw the swell and my daughter wasn't due to the 4th July, but my wife's water broke on the 30th. There were a few complications but after Hikianalia was born I flew to Peru and won, and then I flew back the next day.

                                                                                                *****

It's worth recalling Rothman's speech from atop the winner's dais at Pico Alto as reported by the World Surf League: "I just want to say I love you to my daughter who was born two days ago. I wore her hospital bracelet the whole time and now I can't take it off. I don't even know what to say. I'm happy."

                                                                                                *****

The 9.40 you scored in the final at Pico Alto proved to be a godsend.
Yeah but there was lots of great surfing going on before that. It's a thick and hollow wave. On the good one I paddled hard so hard and got up early, pumped, and it just...I thought 'ohhh, I'm going to go over', but I made it. It was a crazy wave.

Only two contests ran this year out of six, how do you feel about that?
It is what it is. Peter Mel has been making all the right calls. It's a hard job and people will always talk shit from the couch. Chile hasn't broken all season, Dungeons has been dogshit all season.

It would've been good to see Jaws though.
The thing is, it has to be real good Jaws. Real big Jaws. It's a big wave tour not a medium wave tour and people want to see big Jaws.

Are there any changes you'd like to see to the tour next year?
I'd like to see Tavarua on the tour. That'd be something. Or when the contests are on here, when it gets too big for Haleiwa or Sunset I'd like to see them run a Big Wave event. Sunset at 15ft is scary man, it's a scary wave.

You'd like to see some flexibility in the schedule then?
Yeah.

OK, for 2015 you're the top seed: are you gonna chase every contest?
Oh yeah, I wanna win this thing a few times! I want to go in all six contests and smash everyone. Ha ha ha.

Good luck and congratulations.
Thanks brah.

Comments

caml's picture
caml's picture
caml Monday, 23 Feb 2015 at 10:02pm

Makua rothman big wave world champ ! Good on him .

southey's picture
southey's picture
southey Monday, 23 Feb 2015 at 10:28pm

So the champ gets his wish , and the bww tour goes to tavarua ....
My vote for wildcard ............ Caml
Let's make it happen .

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Monday, 23 Feb 2015 at 10:36pm

Re Tavarua, given Makua stated its a big wave tour not a medium wave tour, how often has CB got to those proportions in the last 30yrs? That "Thundercloud" swell was pretty rare I understand. How big is big enough I wonder for CB re BWWT requirements? Would be epic to see tho :-)

southey's picture
southey's picture
southey Monday, 23 Feb 2015 at 10:49pm

It gets big enough, often enough to run every couple of years .
The thundercloud swell was special in that local light N winds were rare , and the swell was probably a once in 10 year event at that size .
Has everyone forgot Laird towing Koby into it around ten years ago . ?!

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Monday, 23 Feb 2015 at 11:04pm

Every couple of years! Awesome! Cheers for that....

caml's picture
caml's picture
caml Monday, 23 Feb 2015 at 11:21pm

Yep can remember that . I wonder how often , archives needed...

southey's picture
southey's picture
southey Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 12:33am

Jon Roseman didn't get good at riding huge waves there because it didn't happen often !
I've heard heaps of stories of guys ' scoring ' swells there that they didn't necessarily want . And how many times have people been ' frustrated ' by classic restaurants getting chewed up by any wind with a hint of nth . Even ENE .
Jon himself even said in an interview " in the late 90's ".?? That some of the biggest waves he'd ridden there were actually in cyclone swells . Kind of shoots the cradled trade wind /cyclones well theory out of the water ???

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 9:17am

Here's an interview I did with Jon Roseman in 2013 about big swells at Cloudbreak and how often they hit.

https://www.swellnet.com/news/surfpolitik/2013/05/29/recalling-big-cloudbreak-jon-roseman

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 10:49am

Cheers for that link Stu. So it's all about the surface conditions, winds etc lining up, which seem to be the fickle factor......would be awesome to see a BWWT event out there...

Tim Bonython's picture
Tim Bonython's picture
Tim Bonython Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 4:53pm

No thx..

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 5:12pm

What do you mean by "No Thx" TB? Just curious....

Tim Bonython's picture
Tim Bonython's picture
Tim Bonython Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 5:27pm

I'd rather head across and shoot everything that happens over there without been told I need accreditation from the WSL. Plus that also limits who wants to surf the place on the day.. boo!

Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68's picture
Rabbits68 Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 6:19pm

Thanks for that TB. Cheers

caml's picture
caml's picture
caml Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 at 11:09pm

Tim aint nothing better than the best day of the year at a big wave break and its a free surf sesh .

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Thursday, 26 Feb 2015 at 9:32am

Last night the WSL had their big annual awards night. They handed out the trophies for men's world champ, women's world champ, junior champs, and longboard champs. That's all of the World Surf League's champions EXCEPT for the Big Wave Tour.

A clash of dates, or whatever you want to call it, meant the awards were on the 25th of Feb but the waiting period for the last BWT events closes on the 28th. Hence Makuakai Rothman couldn't be announced as world champ along with the rest.

http://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/100710/wsl-awards

southey's picture
southey's picture
southey Thursday, 26 Feb 2015 at 10:44am

is this the WSL trying to get back at Makuakai 's old man Eddie .?
or as Skindog called it " burying " the bwwt .

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Tuesday, 3 Mar 2015 at 10:47am

Li'l vid of Makuakai talking about the world title plus footage from throughout the year:

caml's picture
caml's picture
caml Tuesday, 3 Mar 2015 at 7:59pm

Sick footage of quality big wave surfing there