Lowe, Dupont win Big Wave Challenge surfer awards
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 23, 2026
Tom Lowe
Tom Lowe won the Big Wave Challenge’s Men’s Surfer of the Year award after a comeback season. He became the first British surfer to win the award. Lowe suffered a near-fatal wipeout at Teahupo’o and was found unconscious after the crash before fellow surfers revived him. That recovery gives the award added meaning as a marker of his return to competition.
Lowe also received a Ride of the Year nomination for a wave at Mullaghmore, where he paddled into one of the biggest waves of the day. The nomination reflected a season that combined his return from the Teahupo’o wipeout with a notable performance at Mullaghmore.
Justine Dupont
Justine Dupont won Surfer of the Year for the second year in a row. Her nominations included big waves at Mullaghmore and Nazaré, highlighting the performances that accompanied her repeat title.
Dupont’s second straight win gave the women’s results a clear through line. She followed her first title with another Surfer of the Year award, joining Lowe as one of the Big Wave Challenge’s headline winners.
Other category winners
The Big Wave Challenge awards also recognized surfers beyond the two Surfer of the Year winners. Izzi Gomez, Michelle Des Bouillons and Zoe Chait won other category awards, adding more names to the event’s list of honorees.
Those wins broadened the results beyond the main titles and gave the awards a wider group of category winners alongside Lowe and Dupont.
