Surfer Keala Kennelly steps off the pro tour to drop into the new HBO series, ‘John from Cincinnati’
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If she gives you this look in the water, brother, it’s definitely her wave
The hollow, monstrous wave on the southeast end of Tahiti was Keala Kennelly’s favorite stop on the Association of Surfing Professionals Women’s World Tour, a thick, bone-breaking wave that drove onto a shallow reef, and on which she seemed invincible. Called Teahupo’o (cho-poo) by the locals, or sometimes just the End of the Road – because that’s where the road stopped – Kennelly was the first woman to get towed into deadly, 10-foot barrels there, and she won the Billabong Pro Tahiti contests there in 2000, 2002, and 2003.
So when tour officials decided in 2006 the women wouldn’t surf there anymore, Kennelly’s frustration was rising. No big barrels meant no big challenge for her and less chances to excel. Then HBO came calling and the 28-year-old boldly did what she has always done: dropped in.
Kennelly is now living in downtown Los Angeles, far from her beloved Kauai where she grew up, and appears as a regular character in HBO’s new show, John from Cincinnati.
(Source: Dean Kuipers, Los Angeles CityBeat)
