Novelty waves and YouTube.
If you were looking in your crystal ball a handful of years ago, fortunetelling the future ways pro surfers could make a living, these two avenues might’ve seemed unlikely.
However, here we are. It’s 2024, and a handful of pro surfers exist in this niche realm.
Let’s lay out the players.
There’s Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves, who arguably pioneered – or, perhaps, perfected – the genre with his Weird Waves series back in 2019. Then there’s New Jersey’s Ben Gravy, who brought novelty wave surfing into the mainstream. And there’s Hawaii’s Mason Ho, who surfs sharp, shallow, sketchy waves whether there’s a camera around or not.
Finally, there’s Jacob “Zeke” Szekely out of San Diego, CA. Zeke’s a freesurfer, a vlogger, a shit-stirrer, a wavepool enthusiast, and occasionally, his videos veer into the novelty wave department – but it’s not necessarily his one-and-only shtick.
The latest vlog from Zeke, however, delves into the freak wave scene hard with a wedging, weird, wrapping-around-an-island spot in Mexico. So much so that Zeke claims supremacy over the other players. There’s a new sheriff in town, that kinda thing.
Related: Watch: Pro Surfer Pulls off Never-Been-Done Maneuver in Competition
What was the wave like?
“One of the best sessions I’ve had in a long time,” Zeke said. “That’s an all-tine high for me. It’s not too often you get to score an anomaly like that. It was a beautiful backdrop, a crazy cove, and waves just wrapping around this island like I’ve never seen before.”
As for his competition:
“Mason Ho ain’t gonna be happy about this one. Ben Gravy is gonna be bummed, because there’s a new novelty king.”
Heavy claims.
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