Three days after winning the 1990 Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau event at Waimea, Keone Downing, 36, was interviewed by Matt Warshaw. An edited version of this conversation ran in the February 1990 issue of Surfer.

The surf was so big and clean for the contest.

You know, the day had kind of an eerie feeling. I haven't seen waves like that for ten years, as far as being so consistent. There was this three-hour period where every five minutes we had a 20-foot set. It just 

. People on the point, they'd start whistling when sets where coming, and the louder the whistles, the bigger the set. It felt like the whistling was nonstop for a while there.

That's the best part about contests at Waimea, all that anticipation when a big set moves in.

The spectators are practically in the water with you. They can feel it.

The first time was probably in the early '70s.


No, never have been. If it's real big I'll surf Makaha. I believe Waimea doesn't really start breaking until it's 20-foot. When it's smaller than that—yeah, there're waves you can ride, but for me it's not exciting. Plus you get all kinds of people out there when it's under 20-foot. Everybody these days wants to ride big waves.

Did you practice at Waimea at all before the contest?

Not at all, no. The first time I surfed Waimea this year was during my first heat in the morning.

I read somewhere that you didn't fall off all day.

It was a good day, yeah. I rode eight waves and made 'em all.

No, my dad [George Downing] made it for me.

Did you have a game plan going into the contest?

Not really. I'm not much of a contest surfer. Don't fall off. That was my game plan. Every wave I caught, I knew there was a good possibility I'd make it.

Everybody got to surf twice in the contest. After Round One, you had a pretty good lead going into Round Two.

When I went back out in the afternoon, I knew I didn't have to do anything too radical. I didn't have to take any big risks.

But you still ended up getting some really good one in Round Two.

Waves just came my way. Everyone knows that feeling; when you're in a rhythm and nothing can go wrong. There were a lot of guys out there who were just as good as myself, if not better. But the waves came to me.

What do you remember best about the contest?

The thing I remember best was Richard Schmidt taking off on a monster and losing it at the top when the wave hollowed out. He was just floating in the air for a second or two. First, he leaned back on his board to get the skegs to touch back down, and as he leaned back the nose of his board lifted up cause of the offshore wind. Normally in that situation you'd get blown back over the top of the wave, but Richie did this thing where instead he just sort of steered his way back into his line. His skegs reconnected, then his whole board did, and he just rolled forward like nothing had happened. I was right there, man. I'd caught a wave maybe three minutes before. So Richard was maybe 50 feet away from me, and I was close enough to see his eyes go from panic, like "Oh, no, I'm really going to eat it!" then his expression changed and you could tell he knew he was going to make it. It was just awesome to see.

Do you have plans for the money? [Downing's $55,000 winner's check was the biggest prize in surf history up to that point.]

I'm buying my son a bed, and I've got some bills to pay. That's as far as I've planned. I've never had this kind of money. But it's not going to change anything. Like, I own a '71 Dodge Dart, and everyone's asking, "Are you going to get a new car?" Nah, I really like that car! It's fine. I'm going to keep it. Just a bed for my son. Oh, and I was thinking about getting a color TV too. The one we've already got, the kids have taken it over with video games.


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