In case you hadn’t heard, last Thursday was the capital-b Biggest Night in Surfing. It was a big ol’ party at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu, where elite surfers dressed to the nines, The Mattson 2 melted some faces and gorgeous bronze statues were handed to the year’s most impressive surfers.

One of the biggest shifts in our sweeping overhaul of the Awards this year was that all the winners in the live show were crowned by the Surfer Awards Academy, consisting of nearly 50 experts and icons like Gerry Lopez, Bruce Irons, Albee Layer, Taylor Steele, Carissa Moore and many many more (the only exception to this rule is the award for Battle of the Vlogs, which was awarded based on the Fan Favorite Poll). The Academy was broken into panels of 10 judges based on their specific expertise, and judges couldn’t vote in categories they were nominated in, of course (you can see the full results voted by the Academy here)).

But we didn’t just want to know how surfing’s elite felt about the year in surfing, so we decided to do a Fan Favorite Poll to run in tandem with the Academy vote. The fan poll winners may not be crowned on the night of the big show, but it certainly does give a different kind of bragging rights to the winners—the people’s champs, as they were.

What follows are your picks for the Surfer Awards Fan Favorites, which are the results of nearly 26,000 ballots cast. To be honest, some of your picks are kind of shocking, and I think they say something about a) how fired up the European surf scene is on their own, and b) how despite social media following not being one of the criterion listed for any award, it was a huge factor nonetheless.

Whether you agree or disagree with the Fan Favorite Poll results, feel free to sound off in the comment section below. And if you’d like to see a different outcome next year, be sure to cast a ballot and spread the word about voting when the polls open. That’s democracy, baby!

Photo Credit: Todd Glaser

Men’s Best Surfer
(Criteria: Impact, performance and consistency. The surfer who made the biggest, boldest mark on surfing in 2019)

1. Leonardo Fioravanti
2. Jack Freestone
3. John Florence
4. Jamie O’Brien
5. Italo Ferreira
6. Kelly Slater
7. Frederico Morais
8. Gabriel Medina
9. Jordy Smith
10. Kanoa Igarashi

Photo Credit: Rip Curl

Women’s Best Surfer
(Criteria: Impact, performance and consistency. The surfer who made the biggest, boldest mark on surfing in 2019)

1. Alana Blanchard
2. Carissa Moore
3. Caroline Marks
4. Stephanie Gilmore
5. Lakey Peterson
6. Coco Ho
7. Bethany Hamilton
8. Tatiana Weston-Webb
9. Sally Fitzgibbons
10. Johanne Defay

Battle of the Vlogs
(Criteria: Fun, consistency, creativity, storytelling, cinematography and quality of surf action)

1. “Jamie O’Brien Vlogs” starring Jamie O’Brien
2. Ben Gravy
3. “Happy Waves” starring Jack Freestone and Alana Blanchard
4. John John Florence
5. “This is Livin’” starring Koa Rothman
6. Nathan Florence
7. “BEEFS T.V.”
8. “Ho & Pringle Productions” starring Mason Ho
9. Brett Barley
10. Lakey Peterson
11. “In Between” starring Julian Wilson
12. “Surf n Show” starring Noel Salas
13. “Brother Nature” starring Koa, Alex and Travis Smith
14. “Your Weekly Tube” starring Conner and Parker Coffin
15. Eli Olson

Movie of the Year
(Criteria: Creativity, quality of surf action and cinematography in a film over 20 minutes)

1. “Heavy Water” by Michael Oblowitz, starring Nathan Fletcher
2. “Thank You, Mother” by Ishka Folkwell and Torren Martyn, starring Torren Martyn
3. “Self Discovery for Social Survival” by Chris Gentile, starring Steph Gilmore, Ellis Ericson and more
4. “Zone Frequency” by Jack Coleman, starring Bryce Young, Ryan Burch and more
5. “Rolling Review” by Eddie Obrand, starring Cam Richards, Eric Geiselman and more

Best Short
(Criteria: Creativity, quality of surf action and cinematography in a film under 20 minutes)

1. “There and Back Again” by Nathan Florence and Parallel Sea, starring Nathan Florence
2. “The Quieter You Are, The More You Can Hear” by Kai Neville, starring Craig Anderson
3. “Flow State” by Andrew Kaineder, starring Russell Bierke
4. “HOME-ish” by Jacob Vanderwork, starring Kolohe Andino
5. “Fruition” by Cole Yamane, starring Seth Moniz
6. “Tesoro Enterrado” by Perry Gershkow, starring Torren Martyn
7. “Ru.Bu 994” by Mikey Mallalieu, starring Noa Deane
8. “Cult of Freedom: The Creed Part” by Joe G, starring Creed McTaggart
9. “Mind” by Andrew Storer, starring Barron Mamiya
10. “Opinionated Passion” by Dan Norkunas, starring Albee Layer
11. “Left Brain, Right Brain” by Kai Neville, starring Chippa Wilson

Best Series
(Criteria: Creativity, storytelling, cinematography and quality of surf action)

1. “Who is JOB 9.0” by Greg Browning, starring Jamie O’Brien
2. “Weird Waves” by Dylan Graves, starring Dylan Graves
3. “No Contest” by Red Bull Media, starring World Tour surfers
4. “Made In South Africa” by Jason Hearn, starring Jordy Smith, Frank Solomon and more
5. “Know The Feeling” by Scott Wynn, starring Laura Enever

Men’s Best Maneuver
(Criteria: Creativity, difficulty, height, rotation and style. Only maneuvers landed in the ocean were considered)

1. Matt Meola
2. Julian Wilson
3. Seth Moniz
4. Kolohe Andino
5. Ian Crane
6. Creed McTaggart
7. Chippa Wilson

Women’s Best Maneuver
(Criteria: Creativity, difficulty, height, rotation and style. Only maneuvers landed in the ocean were considered)

1. Caroline Marks
2. Courtney Conlogue
3. Tatiana Weston-Webb
4. Silvana Lima

Men’s Best Barrel
(Criteria: Size of barrel, intensity of ride, difficulty, length and depth of uninterrupted tube time)

1. Jack Freestone
2. Cam Richards
3. Keito Matsuoka
4. Koa Rothman
5. Russell Bierke
6. Matahi Drollet

Women’s Best Barrel
(Criteria: Size of barrel, intensity of ride, difficulty, length and depth of uninterrupted tube time)

1. Bethany Hamilton
2. Coco Ho
3. Stephanie Gilmore
4. Vahine Fierro
5. Courtney Conlogue
6. Tatiana Weston-Webb

Photo Credit: Chachi

Men’s Heavy Water
(Criteria: Size of waves ridden, performance, commitment and consistency)

1. Kai Lenny
2. Nathan Florence
3. Nic Von Rupp
4. Koa Rothman
5. Grant “Twiggy” Baker
6. Russell Bierke
7. Billy Kemper

Women’s Heavy Water
(Criteria: Size of waves ridden, performance, commitment and consistency)

1. Justine Dupont
2. Paige Alms
3. Keala Kennelly
4. Bianca Valenti
5. Andrea Moller

Men’s Best Style
(Criteria: Grace, flow and personality in a film or short)

1. Michael February in “Nu Rythmo”
2. Craig Anderson in “The Quieter You Are, The More You Can Hear”
3. Torren Martyn in “Tesoro Enterrado”
4. Bryce Young in “Zone Frequency”
5. Alex Knost in “Tan Madonna”
6. Derrick Disney in “Rolling Review”

Women’s Best Style
(Criteria: Grace, flow and personality in a film or short)

1. Stephanie Gilmore in “South Africa”
2. Alana Blanchard in “Happy Waves: Season 1 Finale”
3. Kelia Moniz in “Sis X Noosa”
4. Erin “Worm” Ashley in “Please Have Fun”
5. Karina Rozunko in “Riot Doll”