Your 2025 Stab High Champ Is Going To The Swatch Nines 

When you’re hot, you’re hot, no? 

Hughie Vaughan wasn’t really thinking about winning Stab High when he arrived in Japan. He just figured he’d go surf, try some airs, and hang with his friends. Then he made the semis. Then he got the highest scores of the semis. Then he thought, ‘Hmm, wait a minute….’

The 18-year-old now has an extra $20k in his pocket and a feather in his cap that validates him as one of the world’s best freesurfers.

So, he was the obvious choice when he entered Swatch’s ‘Become A Nine’ contest. Anyone could enter, and the Nines crew picked a top five. Swatch riders Coco Ho and Noah Beschen voted for one of those five surfers, as did the rest of the 2025 invitees. The panel intitally went with Hughie over a few other notable entries including ones from Cam Richards and Cruz Dinofina. But don’t fret for them — both of their entries were strong enough to also earn an invite to this year’s event.

On the women’s side, the honorable judges selected Zoey Kaina and Skai Suitt out of a field of hyper-talented young surfers. 

A lot of Stab High names in the mix, sure, but the Swatch Nines is a different beast. 

To start: It’s not a contest. There are no heats. No scores. No winners, no losers, no prize money. Instead, it brings 24 surfers together and gives them 42 hours (!) of pool time across three days. There are features. Obstacles. Spontaneous ideas chased on whims. And hours upon hours in which surfers can simply focus on landing something massive on Waco Surf’s ramp.

The event originated in the ski world as a way to bring pros together at the end of a competitive season. It sought to remove all pressure and create an environment (both physically and mentally) that would enable them to try shit that couldn’t possibly fit into the constraints of a normal ski event. And it worked. 

Surfing doesn’t have seasons — there’s always a patch of wind blowing somewhere over the ocean — but the underlying concept remains the same. 

They call it a ‘playground for human talents.’ Which, going off this year’s renders (which we’ll share with you soon), seems quite fitting. 

We’ll be covering it in Texas from June 23 – 26.