Local Sports

Lenny teams with Chianca for win at Nazare

FIRST PHOTO: Maui's Kai Lenny drops in on a giant wave during the first round of the World Surf League Tudor Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge on Monday in Nazare, Portugal. In clean, offshore 40-to-50-foot swells, Lenny and partner Lucas Chianca of Brazil successfully defended their 2020 title by winning the Best Team Performance award. "It's an honor to be towing and be Kai's partner," Chianca, who won the Men's Best Performance award, was quoted as saying in a WSL news release. "He definitely put me on the best waves of the day for sure and we did our best out there. This is one of the best performances of my life and I'm so stoked." Chianca topped the leaderboard with a score of 23.34. Fellow Brazilian Pedro Scooby (22.90) was second and Lenny (19.07) was third. "It's a dream-come-true working with someone like Lucas because we're so like-minded," Lenny said. "We go out and we know the exact waves we want and we're trying to push our performance as far as we can in the airs, barrels and turns, and we're just having so much fun out there." SECOND PHOTO: Chianca (left) and Lenny celebrate Chianca's Men's Wave of the Day award. THIRD PHOTO: Chianca tows Lenny during Monday's competition.