The nominees for the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, which recognizes the biggest waves and the best rides of the last year, were announced last week. Winners will be announced at the invitation-only Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards party at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2012. The show will be webcast that night on YouTube’s Network A, and will be broadcast as a one-hour program on FUEL TV on Sunday, May 20 at 3 P.M. PT.

This year’s event marks the 12th-annual edition of the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards, an event open to every qualified surfer at every break on every day of the year, and eligible if the action is captured by a video or still camera and submitted for judging by the XXL’s voting academy of expert surfers and lensmen. Over 1,000 images were entered into the event before being filtered down to the best five stills and single definitive video clip of each nominated ride.

This year’s swells have been widely regarded as the most spectacular ever seen in the sport of big wave riding. There are top five nominees in each of the XXL’s seven divisions, all worthy of being named an XXL champion and each with a shot at a share of the $120,000 in prize money at stake.

For the Billabong XXL Ride of the Year category, there are five very different waves for consideration, all ridden in very different regions around the planet: 1) SoCal native Nathan Fletcher for his earth-shattering barrel at Teahupoo, Tahiti, 2) SoCal native Greg Long for his paddle-in tube at Puerto Escondido, Mexico, 3) Australian Ryan Hipwood for his long, spitting pipe of a wave at Cloudbreak, Fiji, 4) Australian Jeff Rowley for a hair-raising late paddle drop and pocket ride at Jaws on Maui, and 5) Hawaiian Garrett McNamara, for his plunge into a massive face off the coast of Portugal, a feat that earned the big wave veteran global headlines in November.

Here are the nominees in three other categories, including Monster Paddle, Billabong XXL Biggest Wave, and Monster Tube. The nominees in the remaining three other categories will be announced on April 9, including Surfline Best Overall Performance Award (male), the Billabong Girls Best Performance Award (female) and the ever-popular Verizon Wipeout Award.

The nominees for 2012, in alphabetical order:

FIVE BILLABONG XXL RIDE OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES
(Surfer prize $50,000 – Video prize $5,000)
Nathan Fletcher (San Juan Capistrano, California, USA) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on August 27, 2011. (Video by Simon Saffigna.)
Ryan Hipwood (Gold Coast, Australia) at Cloudbreak, Fiji on July 12, 2011. (Video by Nimai Strickland.)
Greg Long (San Clemente, California, USA) at Puerto Escondido, Mexico on May 19, 2011.
(Video by Alejandro Berger.)
Garrett McNamara (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) at Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal on November 1, 2011. (Video by Jorge Leal.)
Jeff Rowley (Torquay, Victoria, Australia) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on January 30, 2012. (Video by Wangdu Hovey.)

FIVE MONSTER PADDLE AWARD NOMINEES
(Surfer prize $15,000 – Photo/video prize $4,000)
Ken “Skindog” Collins (Santa Cruz, California, USA) at Maverick’s, California on February 8, 2012. (Photos by Robert Brown and Frank Quirarte. Video by The Go Big Project.)
Danilo Couto (Bahia, Brazil) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on January 4, 2012. (Photo by Fred Pompermayer. Video by Greg Browning.)
Shane Dorian (Kona, Hawaii, USA) at Jaws, Hawaii, on January 4, 2012. (Photos by Bidu, Tracy Kraft, Bruno Lemos, Jason Murray and Fred Pompermayer. Video by Elliot Leboe.)
Jamie Mitchell (Gold Coast, Australia) at Todos Santos, Mexico on January 6, 2012. (Photo by Jason Murray. Video by Graham Nash.)
Dave Wassel (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on January 4, 2012. (Photos by Eric Aeder, Frank Berthuot, Bruno Lemos, Mike Neal and Fred Pompermayer. Video by Bruno Lemos.)

FIVE BILLABONG XXL BIGGEST WAVE AWARD NOMINEES
(Surfer prize $15,000 – Photo/video prize $4,000)
Andrew Cotton (Croyde, Devon, United Kingdom) at Mullaghmore Head, Ireland on March 8, 2012. (Photos by Andrew Kilfeather, Conn Osbourne and David Olsthoorn. Video by Jamie Russell.)
Garrett McNamara (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) at Priaia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal on November 1, 2011. (Photo by Wilson Ribeiro. Video by Jorge Leal.)
Axi Muniain (Zarautz, Basque Country) at Agiti, Spain on December 15, 2011. (Photo by Eric Chauche. Video by Walter Lang.)
Ollie O’Flaherty (Lahinch, County Clare, Ireland) at Mullaghmore Head, Ireland on March 8, 2012. (Photos by Christian McLeod and Matt Strathern. Video by Mark Waters.)
Damien “Taco” Warr (Yallingup, Western Australia) at Cow Bombie, Western Australia on October 16, 2011. (Photo by Jamie Scott. Video by Rick Jakovich.)

FIVE MONSTER TUBE AWARD NOMINEES
(Surfer prize $5,000 – Still photography prize $2,000)
Kohl Christensen (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) at Cloudbreak, Fiji on July 12, 2011.
(Photos by Brian Bielmann and Bruno Lemos.)
Nathan Fletcher (San Juan Capistrano, California, USA) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on August 27, 2011. (Photos by Brian Bielmann, Pete Frieden, Bruno Lemos, Tim McKenna and Benjamin Thouard.)
Tyler Hollmer-Cross (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) at Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania on May 17, 2011. (Photo by Andrew Chisholm.)
Bruce Irons (Hanalei, Hawaii, USA) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on August 27, 2011.
(Photos by Brian Bielmann, Tim McKenna, Fred Pompermayer, Pat Stacy and Benjamin Thouard.)
Everaldo “Pato” Teixeira (Florianopolis, Brazil) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on August 27, 2011.
(Photos by Tim McKenna, Fred Pompermayer and Benjamin Thouard.)

For more details and to view all the still photos, go to www.BillabongXXL.com.