Meet the Teacher, Marine Scientist and SCUBA Diver Who Charges Big Waves

Imagine being a ten-year-old girl at Haiku Elementary School, which is a literal stone’s throw from Jaws, with an interest in surfing. You like T Swift, surfing the beach park on weekends and you follow the women who tackle the largest waves in the world on TikTok.

As it happens today, your teacher is out. And so, you have a substitute .... Miss Katie. And Miss Katie McConnell happens to be a top-tier big wave surfer.

“To focus on surfing big waves means to be available when a big swell hits," Katie recently told SURFER. "That creates such a challenge for a human that exists in a society, a life at the beck and call of a somewhat unpredictable force of nature. We do whatever we can to stay afloat in that system with bills, groceries and rent to pay.”

Right now, McConnell says that’s taking the form of substitute teaching.

“It’s actually been awesome," she says. "There’s such a dire need for teachers, so it’s been a great way to support myself and be a contributing newcomer to the Maui community, she explains.”

Though the womens’ prize money at WSL events has been equal to the mens’ now for five years, surfing has been a truly sustainable career path for only a few females. And for female freesurfers and big wave chargers, opportunities are few and substantially less since hatchets have slashed marketing budgets of late.

"It wasn’t that long ago that Mavericks was something that I couldn’t even imagine attempting."

“I’m very privileged in that I have my education and a wide variety of experiences that I can adapt to as many odd jobs as I can get my hands on," says McConnell. "Every little bit counts to keep the dream alive and to do it in a way that shifts the tone from a selfish pursuit to one more of service to people and planet.”

McConnell has risen to the top of the big wave realm in a relatively short time. She also recently took fourth in the first ever Bodysurfing World Tour Finals at Point Panic on Oahu, surfing for Team Polynesia.

“Because of my kooky, late beginnings as a surfer I often feel like an imposter on the podium or in the media," says McConnell. "It wasn’t that long ago that Mavericks was something that I couldn’t even imagine attempting. I’m extremely fortunate that I grew up with a Dad who always told me that with hard work I could do anything I set my mind to. Love and curiosity tend to win out over fear.”

Growing up in Encinitas, California, she caught her first waves at Cardiff Reef in high school. Though at that time she never competed in surfing, she did train hard to become a California State Beach Lifeguard, which sparked her love for bodysurfing and helped prepare for the colder, heavier waves of Santa Cruz.

“A four-foot day in Santa Cruz and a four-foot day in San Diego are two very different things," says McConnell. "There’s just more energy [in Santa Cruz]. You have to adapt to the conditions. Back then, a big wave was a very different size to me than it is now.”

McConnell was primarily a longboarder and lived in a ramshackle farmhouse with a bunch of surfers while studying Marine Biology and Scientific Diving at UC Santa Cruz. When she’d surf with her housemates, she’d sit out the back for fear of cleanup sets. When she sat out there long enough, she would talk herself into catching a bomb.

“Sometimes the swell would build while we were out there, and I had no choice but to take the biggest one in order to make it to the beach unscathed," remembers McConnell. "Sometimes you just have to tie your hair back and send it.”

In actuality, she didn’t dedicate herself to chasing big waves until the pandemic.

“My whole adult life, I’d always rushed through everything I had to do in order to surf," she says. "I was out of work, and like many, reconsidering priorities. I decided to flip the script and experimentally put surfing first.”

In the short time since, she has become one of the top female heavy water surfers in North America.

“It was like the universe started flinging open doors for me and the ocean started sending me really good waves," says McConnell. "I have gone farther than I ever imagined. I share the story with my students to get them to look inside, dream, and take steps towards an ideal future for themselves and their communities.”

"Back then, a big wave was a very different size to me than it is now.”

After earning her Masters degree in Oregon, she expanded her big wave radius from Pacific Northwest reefs down to Mavericks and into northern Baja. Those early pursuits got her an invite to the Red Bull Magnitude Women’s Big Wave Competition in Hawaii, where she won third place and Rookie of the Year her first season in Hawaii. She has made the podium each year since.

The focus of the content-driven event is to not only showcase female chargers, but also provide support in the form of water safety and photographers/filmers.

“I think it’s such an incubator for progression both personally, and culturally," says McConnell. "I’ve improved so much because of not having to pay for safety or clips when there’s a big swell. And I learn so much when I get to see myself surfing. Having more women in the lineup and having our clips shared on Red Bull’s major media platforms has a ripple effect that creates space for women. Representation is so important, and it’s inspiring to see women charging giant waves with radical skill.”

This year, McConnell won a live event at Todos Santos during the Thriller at Killers event on her 34th birthday, February 18.

“It felt like redemption after being so beat and traumatized by it in the past," says McConnell. "The Thriller at Killers was a fun event and a beautiful day with a great community out there. The events are always so magical. It’s a different vibe in the water. There is so much camaraderie, from the underground, the big names, the locals and visitors. The swell filled in right when it was supposed to. The wind came up right as predicted. Winners were announced. We did a little photo opp on the boat, and then we motored back and had tacos together.”

Related: Watch: Cody Purcell, Katie McConnell Win Thriller At Killers At Pumping Todos

McConnell remains one of the top women in the world at riding mountains of water and has been invited to surf in the Lobos Por Siempre Ceremonial at Punta de Lobos again this summer. But McConnell is so much more than that. She received her Bachelor of Science from UC Santa Cruz and her Masters from Oregon State, where she studied coral reef microbiomes with a focus on risk quantification in socioecological systems, a concept that integrates humans and nature. In between degrees, she spent five years as a Scientific Diver supporting marine research in Chilean Patagonia, Antarctica and Pacific kelp forests.

For her, environmentalism isn’t just a rosy way to sell apparel. McConnell feels an ethical dilemma about focusing on big swells. For as much joy as it brings, she wonders if she has a responsibility to spend more time protecting the earth and educating future generations than booking flights according to buoy readings.

“Surfing and ocean science have brought me to many corners of the planet where I have seen how the communities who are the most vulnerable due to global changes are also both the least responsible and have the least say in global decision making," says McConnell. "In certain ways, we are more connected than ever. How can we not feel more empathy and compassion to want to help our neighbors?”

“Reading new papers about the extreme pace and intensity of climate change and its affects can make me pretty depressed, since in general it seems to me like the human-caused aspects of it stem from a narrow view of short-term gains. In general, it doesn’t always feel like I’m doing enough by making a social media posts,” she admits.

But McConnell has found she can make significant steps by partnering with organizations that talk the talk and walk the walk.

"Surfing and ocean science have brought me to many corners of the planet where I have seen how the communities who are the most vulnerable due to global changes are also both the least responsible and have the least say in global decision making."

She connected with Save the Waves Coalition after her Rookie year in the Magnitude contest. With YachtAid Global, McConnell helps link private donors in the yachting world with humanitarian aid, disaster relief and conservation initiatives.

McConnell sees a distinct shift happening where more and more people are opening their eyes to appreciate the biodiversity of the earth. She points to studies that have shown that surfers are particularly apt to not just feel this way, but also take real actions.

Before surfing took over, McConnell taught environmental science and biology to undergraduates. But for now, she’s making a difference by affecting an even younger generation.

“It’s so awesome to be working with the kids," she says. "I can’t deny that there’s a little teacher inside of me that wants to help everyone thrive in their own way. Being a sub gives me the flexibility and have a better handle on the sort of challenges and activities are appropriate for each grade level. We don’t do enough for our children in the public school system. It’s so underfunded. It only works because there are amazing people who show up every day and have a passion and talent for it. It’s crazy to me that something so important is so undervalued. Our children are the future.”