Surfer wiped out by monster wave off Maui’s North Shore shares ordeal
Dec 27, 2024
HAIKU, Hawaii (WSVN) — A surfer who was knocked off his board by a super-sized wave off Hawaii described the encounter as one of the heaviest wipeouts he has ever experienced.
Dramatic cellphone video showed the moment of impact during the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay, Sunday afternoon.
In an interview with Fox News, Ty Simpson-Kane said he had caught the wave of his life, then went for the ride of his life.
“When I let go of the rope, I actually thought that this wave was going to barrel a lot harder. so I was actually trying to fade, stall, let this wave set up,” he said.
Simpson-Kane said he knew the forecast: some of the biggest waves Maui’s North Shore had seen in years. Despite the risks, this could have been his only chance to ride a wave this big.
“Oh, man, this was the swell that I have been waiting for and dreaming of for a very long time,” he said. “I knew that this day was going to be what my dreams were made of.”
After briefly riding the wave, Simpson-Kane is seen flipping several times before disappearing under it.
The professional surfer said his training helped him survive.
“Big wave surfers, we train for these types of situations,” he said. “There’s a lot of training, breath hold work that goes on behind the scenes.”
Not long after he was helped out of the water, Simpson-Kane went back in and rode some more waves.