Watch: The World’s Best Skaters Vs. Maxing Uluwatu

Jacob Szekely is a lot of things.

Loud, unapologetically vulgar, a vlogger. Frat-like in his language, frat-like in his pursuit of women, a bro to the core.

But move past all that, and you’ll find a genuinely sweet, respectful dude. Refreshingly polite and hardworking. Unnecessarily gracious just to be in any given moment, with time for everyone, still in disbelief that he has fans. And despite proving time and again that he’s their peer, he still refers to everyone he surfs with, or competes against, as his heroes.

The story’s well known by now, but it’s worth a quick revisit: Zeke was a troubled kid, got tangled up in booze, drugs, a few too many nights in the wrong place, and wound up in jail. Spent a solid stretch in there. Now, he’s sober, focused on being a better version of himself. 

There’s no such thing as a Zeke hater, or so the saying goes. You’re just in the denial stage of loving him. And no matter what stage you’re at, you gotta admit, he makes every event he’s apart of more fun. 

Which brings us to The Keris cup in Bali, held at Uluwatu Surf Villas. We caught up with the winner Shane Borland last week, so if you want the report straight from the horse’s mouth, click here.

Quick recap on the comp format: three days to grab your best three surf clips from anywhere in Indonesia. Submit your picks, and on the final night, there’s a skate jam. Whoever’s going hardest, in the water and on land, gets the win.

By some quirk of fate, or perhaps the mercy of Vishnu himself, Bali got clobbered by an unseasonable swell for the entire comp window. Zeke deemed it the biggest he’s ever seen hit the Bukit.

The comp featured the best surfer/skater crossbreeds in the world: Keegan Palmer, Pedro Barros, Alex Sorgente, Alex Midler, and Greyson Fletcher, to name a few. Greyson’s father and uncle, Christian and Nate, were judging, alongside Christian Hosoi, Marlon Gerber, and Omar Hassan.

There was a particular Padang session that featured all of the names on the list above — a super session, if you’re a fan of the cliche. Now legendary, thanks to Sky Brown, who, after dislocating her shoulder the night before, came back the next day and packed a proper Padang tube.

So far, footage from the event’s been scarce. But if you’re the sort who prefers the movie to the book, then thank the Hollywood heavens for Jacob Szekely. Still in denial about the way your heart feels about him? Skip through the behind-the-scenes segments. The clip’s worth it, if for no other reason than watching the Fletcher brothers try to tame maxing Ulu’s.

Worth your time.