Big wave award nomination for Ollie

Lahinch man Ollie O’Flaherty was last week nominated in the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. This is an annual event where surfers world-wide vie for the biggest wave of the year. His wave, caught off Mullaghmore Head, County Sligo in March, has been short-listed in the biggest wave category.
Ollie started surfing at age four under the tutelage of his uncle, Lahinch surfer Alan Coyne. In the last few years he has pushed hard to reach the forefront of Irish surfing, with photographs of him appearing regularly in Irish and British surf media.
On March 8, Ollie rose before dawn to make the drive from Lahinch to county Sligo.
“I kinda knew going up that day it was gonna be big, real big,” he explains. What he did not realise was that he would soon be surfing the biggest waves ever ridden in Irish waters.
Once waves reach a certain size it becomes impossible to catch them using the conventional paddle-in method: the wave is simply travelling too fast. In these situations, surfers are towed into the waves by means of a jet-ski. This gives them the speed required to catch even the biggest rolling behemoths churned up by Atlantic storms.
Ollie and his tow partner, Gabe Davis, warmed up on a few smaller waves before the big one arrived. He describes the moment he released the tow rope, the moment the surfer effectively cuts their safety line and relies solely on their surfing ability.
“I realised it was really big when I looked back as I was being towed in by the jet ski. A lot of stuff went through my mind at that moment such as am I ready, is it worth the risk, but to be honest in the end it was an easy decision to let go of the rope, I have spent too much time over the last couple of years training and waiting for a moment like this, so I let go.”
At this point Ollie was riding along one of the biggest waves ridden anywhere in 2012. As the wave breaks along the underwater reef, its size increases, forcing a surfer to commit to the ride. Ollie’s wave is reckoned to have reached more than 50 foot on the face. For Ollie, standing at the bottom, that made it close to ten times overhead.
After the surf, videos and pictures of the session spread through the worldwide surf community. The waves were entered into the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, the Oscars of the big wave surfing community. Last week, the short-list was announced and Ollie was delighted to receive a place in the final five of the biggest wave category, along with an invite to the awards ceremony in California in May. Judges will determine from photographic evidence the official wave height. The winner then receives a $15,000 prize.
“It can only be described as humbling to be nominated for such an award,” says Ollie. “It’s something I look at every year in awe and to be part of it now is an incredible feeling.”