Watch: Pro Surfer Pulls off Never-Been-Done Maneuver in Competition
Controversial, innovative, endlessly entertaining.
These are just a handful of ways to describe San Diego, California pro surfer Jacob “Zeke” Szekely. He’s not afraid to stir the surf world pot; he’s pulled off some of the craziest aerials ever in wavepools and the ocean; and he has a reckless abandon approach to his surf style, online persona, and interactions with the surf community at large.
Now, Zeke has lived up to that reputation, by doing something groundbreaking, hilarious, and never been done. Essentially, it was a big, lighthearted, metaphorical middle finger to the competitive surfing machine. In other words, Zeke in a nutshell.
At the SLO Cal Open in Pismo Beach, CA, Zeke actually pulled off two firsts. Initially, he paddled out on a soft-top in a shortboard event and won his heat. Never been done at this level of competition. In his post heat interview, Zeke said:
“I just like to have fun; I like to mix it up. I feel like too many people get stuck in the same lane and are doing the same thing over and over again. To me, when I mix it up and try new things, that’s when I do the best.”
Next, he did a board transfer – from a soft-top to a shortboard – which was another first...although it was deemed ineligible. In a clip on his Instagram, Zeke wrote:
“We Made History Today?? 1st Ever Board Transfer in a WSL Event, but Unfortunately they Didn’t Score my 1st Wave Because they said the WSL RuleBook States that you can’t have 2 boards at once! I Read the Whole RuleBook & Couldn’t Find anything about it in the Rules, but All Good, I still Made the Heat, and I’m into Round 4 Tomorrow! Shouts Outs to All the Homies who Fired Me Up to Think Outside The Box. I had Heeps of Fun Today, and I’m Gonna try and Keep the Ball Rolling in this Comp???? Yewwww”
Well, it’s not quite the world’s first fingerflip in the Waco wavepool; but still, Zeke pushing boundaries and buttons. And, in the process, perhaps paving the way for...the World Soft-Top League? Stay tuned on that one.
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