Ryan Kingman, Mikey Rangel and Drew Dolkas of Roark, Cory Higgins of Jetty, and Ryan Hitzel of Roark
Allison Roberts of Billabong and Mary Myers of Novella Royale
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Mark Richards and Quiksilver legend Tom Holbrook
Shelley and Bob Hurley
Vince De La Pena of Vissla with the winning bid for the Surfline takeover package
Mark Tinkess of O'Neill and Dustin Odbert of Ambsn
Jacyln Schroeder and Eric Thomas of RVCA
Waterman of the Year Kai Lenny with Michael Eustace of UBS
Mark Weber of Billabong and his wife, Laura
Mitch Whitaker of Vans winning the bid for a retreat for 12 at The Ranch at Laguna Beach
Lydia Ballesteros and Karen Sarver of Stoke House
Nicaela Freise and Debby Martin of L*Space
Rich Sanders of Vissla and wife, Celeste
Ross Garrett of Surfline, Randy Hild of Funsters, and Alexis Garrett
SIMA Environmental Fund President Paul Naude
PJ Connell of Rip Curl and Rod Tomlinson of Surf Expo
Bob Graff of Wasserman and Pat O'Connell of WSL
Cory Higgins of Jetty and Steve Fisher, Roy Turner, and Rod Tomlinson of Surf Expo
Kiki Prince of Roxy, Jeff Brusven of Quiksilver, Yvonne Clements of Roxy, Fuzzy Schroeder and Mike Reilly of Quiksilver
Eddie Anaya of Surfrider
Dylan Slater of Rip Curl, Ali Perez and Carrie Piccolini of O'Neill, Jade Peterson, Shawn Peterson of Rip Curl, Rachael Hill of O'Neill
Mark Richards receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award. Longtime friend Tom Holbook introduced him.
Waterman of the Year Kai Lenny
The Ranch Owner Mark Christy, left, and a surprise appearance by Actor Jeff Bridges in honor of Environmentalist of the Year Dianna Cohen
Boardriders mingling - Mark Weber and Jason Shelton of Billabong and Mike Reilly of Quiksilver
Bahara Stapleberg and Una Baker - Una's late husband, SIMA President Dick Baker, was honored during the night
Janet O'Connell of Hurley and Andrea Meehan
Mark Richards and Kai Lenny with their boards that were part of the live auction
Vicki Redding of Vans and husband, Robert
Peter McKenna of NRI and Brian White
Steve Culley, Diem Culley of Rip Curl, Kari Johnson of O'Neill
Mike Matey of Reef and wife, Amy
Rob McCarty of Vissla and Jeff Foust of Brand ID
Environmentalist of the Year Dianna Cohen of Plastic Pollution Coalition, Vissla CEO Paul Naude, Jackie Nunez of Plastic Pollution Coalition
Shaun Tomson and Bryan Friedman
Trish Cosio and husband Henry Cosio of Vans
Sara Lowell won the bid for a new electric Audi SUV in the live auction
Maryann Mainero Wilson, Malcolm Wilson, Laurie Brumage, Glenn Brumage of SHAAC
Kelly Smith and SIMA's Sean Smith
Dianna Cohen of Plastic Pollution Coalition
Kai Lenny with Photographer Tom Servais, who introduced him
SIMA held the Annual Waterman’s event Saturday night, which honored Mark Richards with a Lifetime Achievement Award, Plastic Pollution Coalition Co-Founder Dianna Cohen as Environmentalist of the Year, and Kai Lenny as Waterman of the Year.
The speeches were particularly good this year, including the humble and humorous Mark Richards, the inspirational Dianna Cohen who urged industry companies to do more to encourage a reduction in plastic, and the very articulate Kai Lenny. Kai may only be 26, but he is one of the most well-spoken modern surfers out there.
SIMA Environmental Fund President Paul Naude gave a passionate speech about everyone needing to do more to help the environment, in addition to leading an emotional tribute to late SIMA President Dick Baker, who passed away 10 years ago.
Paul talked about how still today at SIMA board meetings, Dick’s chair at the conference table remains unoccupied.
Over the course of 30 years, Waterman’s has raised nearly $9 million to support groups that work to protect and preserve oceans, beaches, surf breaks and waves.
This year’s grant recipients include 5 Gyres Institute, Assateague Coastal Trust, Clean Ocean Action, Heal the Bay, North Shore Community Land Trust, Ocean Institute, Orange County Coastkeeper, San Diego Coastkeeper, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Save the Waves Coalition, Surfers Against Sewage, Surfing Education Association, Surfrider Foundation, Wildcoast, and Wishtoyo Foundation.
