Kalani Lattanzi has made a habit of being in the right place at the right time this year. The 21-year old Brazilian bodysurfer/bodyboarder hybrid has been a part of the most exciting sessions in recent memory. He shared his most recent experience with us in our first of an on-going series called All-Time Sessions.
14.01.15 Jaws
SLM: Tell us about the Jaws session.
K: Henrique Pistilli invited me to bodysurf Jaws, so I said, ” sure why not.” I was excited because the conditions were finally perfect. We want to go bigger, but it was epic, 12-15 feet we had great times out there. The crew was Henrique, Kai Santos, Michael Donohoe, Kaliya Mayell and myself. When we first got in, we stayed at the west bowl, but after some waves we tried to stay with the surfers. The surfers were kind of surprised, but they seemed happy to see us having fun.
SLM: How was swimming with Kai and Henrique?
K: Kai and Henrique are expert watermen. Kai is a fearless mad dog. Henrique is calm on the outside, but burning inside and catching so many waves he even ended up on some of mine. Jaws is different because there is so much water, you have to paddle super hard.
SLM: Did you need to train for Jaws specifically?
K: I didn’t need to train, I live at Itacoatiara beach, the heaviest wave in the world, in my opinion. So its already a big training surfing there. The most important thing is mentally, I use to say ” it’s only water.” Makes me feel more comfortable. When the session was over we were all so happy that everyone made it out safe. This is my second favorite bodysurfing session of all-time, just behind El Buey in 2011.
SLM: What fins did you wear?
K: I use the same I use for bodyboard, Invert Style fins, a Churchill modeled fin.
SLM: What’s your advice for the next crew of bodysurfers taking on Jaws?
K: If you wanna stay safe, stay at west bowl if you wanna go bigger try bodysurf at outside. More dangerous but maybe you catch a sick wave.
SLM: That’ll be where you are next time?
K: Yes.
Special thanks to @ShannonReporting for the photographic documentation. She is a photographer, surfer and television journalist.
This session was featured on the Brazilian T.V. show Homem Peixe. Check out the episode and more of Henrique Pistilli’s travels HERE.
Swell Lines 
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