The two girls have been charging the biggest waves of the summer this year. They use to be scared, but not anymore. They look forward to surfing the big waves because nobody else wants it. They paddle out in the dark and I’ve watched 8′ double overhead waves breaking on their heads. The dive under, come up, and no problem at all. Their calmness is amazing.
They can turn around in a second and paddle into the biggest waves. I don’t have to scream “go!!!” anymore. They just GO because they want to GO! I’m super proud of them because they worked hard to be comfortable in a very uncomfortable place.
Round 1: Seth beat Eimeo Czermak who is the best surfer in Tahiti and was favored to win the contest. Then his heats got harder and harder. Next he beat World Champion Yago Dora, next he beat Mexico charger Alan Cleland. Next he beat World Champion Italo Ferreira. That put him into the final of the craziest and most watched contest of the year.
Then he beat his best friend Griffin Colapinto in the final to become the 2026 Tahiti Champion! I texted Seth congratulations and his reply to me made me cry again. The emotions are pretty high right now in the family because we all know how big his dreams are and know how hard he works for it. No other surfer on tour deserved to win this event more than Seth Moniz did!
So stoked to see my Tahitian friend Vetea “Poto” David who was Water Patrol congratulating Seth. Tahitians and Hawaiians have a really close bond. You don’t just become friends, you become brothers for life.
