2 Hawaii surfers win World Surfing League honors

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -Congratulations are in order for two Hawaii surfers, Carissa Moore and Keala Kennelly .They recently earned top honors from the World Surfing League.Carissa Moore won multiple 2018 awards including Women’s Wave of the Year for her moves at the Beachwaver Maui Pro at Honolua Bay.The Punahou grad also won the Women’s awards for Move of the Year and Heat of the Year.Fellow athlete Keala Kennelly won the 2018 Big Wave World Champion Award. The Kauai surfer won the Jaws Challenge at Peahi.“Nobody gets to be a champion without the love and support of so many people so I want to thank everybody that helped me get here,” Kennelly said.Kennelly hopes she can inspire the next generation of athletes to perform their best abilities under their authentic self.“I needed to dream bigger because when I was 25, I was hiding in the closet, soaked in shame, living in fear, and I hated myself because I did not think you could be World Champion and gay at the same time,” Kennelly said.”I needed to dream bigger because now I get to be the first openly gay World Champion. I get to be proud of who I am and I get to love myself exactly as I am, not as people would want me to be. And it is my hope that I am going to inspire other LGBT athletes that are suffering in silence to live your truth,” Kennelly added.The 2019 WSL championship tour season is about to kick off in Australia.