diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/+layout.svelte b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/+layout.svelte
index 411adf00..515622c9 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/+layout.svelte
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/+layout.svelte
@@ -37,7 +37,12 @@
     const hackathon = $derived(data.hackathon);
     const title = $derived(hackathon.name);
     const dates = $derived(formatDates(hackathon.startsAt, hackathon.endsAt));
-    const participantCount = $derived(hackathon.members.length);
+    // Counted the way the Participants list counts its rows — which drops
+    // waitlisted members, for everyone — so the hero and that page never
+    // disagree. How many are waiting is the Manage hub's badge, not this number.
+    const participantCount = $derived(
+        hackathon.members.filter((m) => !m.isWaiting).length,
+    );
     // Same resolution the timeline page uses, so the header bar and the page never
     // disagree about which phase is the live one.
     const phases = $derived(
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/participants/+page.server.ts b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/participants/+page.server.ts
index 80635c96..0f5d57ff 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/participants/+page.server.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/participants/+page.server.ts
@@ -4,17 +4,23 @@ import { membershipBadgeLabel } from "$lib/utils/hackathonRole"
 // No owner/admin check here: the way into participant management is the
 // sidebar's Manage section, which gates itself on the same subjects (see
 // $lib/navigation's manageNav) and owns the Approve/Remove actions. This page is
-// the participant view and reads the same for everyone.
+// the participant view and reads the same for everyone — an organizer included,
+// which is what lets them see exactly what a participant sees.
 export const load: PageServerLoad = async (event) => {
   // No RPC of its own: the layout's `hackathon.get` already returns every
   // participant with their casbin role and waitlist flag.
   const { hackathon } = await event.parent()
 
-  // Waitlisted members are listed too, carrying a "Waitlisted" label. They are
-  // real rows in the hackathon's membership, and the label says which is which
-  // — hiding them would make the page disagree with the count in the header.
+  // Waitlisted members are dropped: who has applied and not been accepted is
+  // between the applicant and the organizer, and the "Waitlisted" chip
+  // otherwise told every participant which of their peers was still pending.
+  // They are not hidden from the people who act on them — Manage Participants
+  // lists them, with Approve, and the Manage hub badges how many are waiting.
+  //
+  // Filtered in the load rather than the component, so this page's payload never
+  // carries the waitlisted names at all.
   const participants = hackathon.members
-    .filter((m) => m.user !== undefined)
+    .filter((m) => m.user !== undefined && !m.isWaiting)
     .map((m) => ({
       id: m.user!.id,
       name: m.user!.displayName || m.user!.username,