Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira made history earlier this year when she surfed a wave that was 73.5 feet (22.4 meters) high, but her unprecedented accomplishment is only just now being recognized. This week, she was awarded the official Guinness World Record for Highest Wave Surfed — Unlimited (Female).
Gabeira rode the wave at the first-ever Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge, held by the World Surf League (WSL) at the Praia do Norte beach in Portugal, on February 11. She already held the existing world record in this category, having previously surfed a 68-foot wave at the same location in 2018.
“To set the world record has been a dream of mine for many years,” Gabeira told Guinness World Records. “To get a second one is a little bit crazy – I’ve got to wrap my head around it.” Her achievement also garnered her the WSL’s 2020 women’s XXL Biggest Wave Award. Notably, the winner of the men’s Biggest Wave Award, Kai Lenny, surfed a 70-foot wave; 3 feet smaller than Gabeira’s.
The delay in Gabeira’s record being confirmed as official was due in part to the coronavirus pandemic, but also down to some confusion around the criteria for measuring waves, and the fact that Gabeira’s fellow finalist, Justine Dupont, was so close that the margin between them was deemed almost too narrow to call.
The fact that Gabeira and Dupont’s surf has been subject to so much scrutiny, but not the men’s event, has been pointed to as evidence of sexism in the sport, according to The Atlantic’s Maggie Martens. “Though it is notable that the WSL pays equal prize money to male and female competitors now, and it invited women to participate alongside men in February’s tow-in contest, the league seemed to gloss over a moment fans rarely get to celebrate: a woman winning head-to-head in sport with a man,” she wrote.
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Back in 2013, Gabeira was injured when her board crashed, leading to comments from her male peers that she didn’t have the skill required to surf the waves at Nazaré. This second world record is proof, then, that she most certainly does have what it takes to ride the biggest waves in the world — and best the men in her sport while doing so.