On January 18, 2018, Maya Gabeira, a Brazilian surfer, rode a 68-foot avalanche of a wave of the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. On October 7th, 2018, at the ceremony marking the opening for the WSL’s Big-Wave Tour season, Gabeira was presented with a Guinness World Record for the “largest wave surfed (unlimited) – female” for her accomplishment.
Gabeira risked her life at Nazaré during a horrendous wipeout in 2013 which snapped her tibia and left her close to drowning. The horrifying event catalyzed her accomplishment by motivating her to move to the location to recover and focus on conquering the wave.
“To set the world record has been a dream of mine for many years,” said Gabeira “but of course, after the accident in Nazaré 2013, it felt like a very distant dream. It took a lot of work to have a season like last year, to be 100 percent again; and to complete it with a Guinness World Records title is quite special.”
According to Guinness, judges sorted through archives going back twenty years to substantiate Gabeira’s award.
Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa currently holds the Guinness World Record for “Largest wave surfed (unlimited)-male” for his 80-foot monster wave, also ridden at Nazaré, from November 2017.
Read more for the WSL here.
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