Bianca Valenti, San Francisco, California.
Longtime Maverick's surfer Bianca Valenti has become powerful and dominant at Mavericks, the somewhat ruthless big wave surf spot that has very few female takers. She has been surfing out there for a while now, and has a local crew looking after her to make sure she gets her waves and doesn't get burned by blow-ins.
Bianca started her big wave career as a longboarder, competing in events across the country, but after one particular rousing session at Ocean Beach she decided that big wave surfing was what she wanted to do. She surfs Mavericks whenever it's breaking pretty much, and when she heads down on vacation to Mexico she always takes a board along in case she might score Puerto or maybe Killers.
Bianca is fairly new on the WSL scene and has set the performance bar in the new year. There are more female surfers who are bubbling under and determined to get a shot on a Big Wave Tour, but in the meantime she continues training at Mavericks, which is a pretty good training ground for a potential Big Wave Tour surfer. As the female side of big wave surfing progresses, Bianca will be one of the surfers who will be in the front of the sport, leading the way.
Women's Performance Awards Nominee - Bianca Valenti
WSL
Bianca Valenti, San Francisco, California.
Longtime Maverick's surfer Bianca Valenti has become powerful and dominant at Mavericks, the somewhat ruthless big wave surf spot that has very few female takers. She has been surfing out there for a while now, and has a local crew looking after her to make sure she gets her waves and doesn't get burned by blow-ins.
Bianca started her big wave career as a longboarder, competing in events across the country, but after one particular rousing session at Ocean Beach she decided that big wave surfing was what she wanted to do. She surfs Mavericks whenever it's breaking pretty much, and when she heads down on vacation to Mexico she always takes a board along in case she might score Puerto or maybe Killers.
Bianca is fairly new on the WSL scene and has set the performance bar in the new year. There are more female surfers who are bubbling under and determined to get a shot on a Big Wave Tour, but in the meantime she continues training at Mavericks, which is a pretty good training ground for a potential Big Wave Tour surfer. As the female side of big wave surfing progresses, Bianca will be one of the surfers who will be in the front of the sport, leading the way.
Bianca Valenti
2019 Hydro Flask Women's Performance Entry: Bianca Valenti at Mavericks, California on December 19, 2018. Video by Sachi Cunningham.
2019 Biggest Paddle Entry: Bianca Valenti at Mavericks, California on December 18, 2018. (3 shot sequence)
2019 Biggest Paddle Entry: Bianca Valenti at Mavericks, California on December 19, 2018. 6 shot sequence by Katie Zacarian.
2019 Biggest Paddle Entry: Bianca Valenti at at Mavericks, California on December 18, 2018. 4 shot sequence by RunAmuck Photography.
2019 Hydro Flask Women's Performance Entry: Bianca Valenti at Puerto Escondido, Mexico on August 18, 2018. Video by Bruno Zanin.
North America
Ferreira went from learning to surf on a cooler lid to conquering to hearts and minds of the surf world, and he's just getting started.
The people's champ, Italo Ferreira has proved all doubters wrong, combining progression and power to become a Pipe Master.
Team California wins Nissan Super Girl Surf Pro and Team Lakey claims individual honors. Here's how it all went down.
Rosy Hodge and Joe Turpel break down all the action from the Rumble at the Ranch -- the first WSL Countdown event of the year.
Kelly Slater drops the first excellent score of the event with an 8.23 on the right and a 6.27 on the left at the Rumble at the Ranch.