Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira - one of the best in the world - surfs the famous wave of Nazaré, Portugal, on January 18, 2018. The film of this incredible wrinkle on this monstrous wave had caused a sensation and the video had become viral.
It was not until October 1 that the young surfer officially joined the Guiness of Records as the woman who surfed the world's largest wave, 20.72 m high.
A long-awaited record
The woman who had been striving since she was a child to achieve this record, however, took time to be recognized. Indeed, on August 2, 2018, she launched a petition for the WSL (World Surf League) to measure the wave and certify the record. Because for the Guiness of the Record to certify performance, the World Surfing League must itself certify the size of the wave.
However, despite letters and reminders from the young woman to create a women's prize for the biggest wave in the world ever surfed, the organization had not made any progress on the subject.
"Since 2013, I have been training in Nazaré, Portugal, which is home to the world's largest waves. In 2011, Garrett McNamara set a world record here, and last year, Rodrigo Koxa broke that record. These two wrinkles are part of the world record book, the Guinness" explained the young woman. So why by her, who had trained so hard, having almost died in 2013 during a previous tentative??
WSL validation
Finally, the World Surf League added the category "Women's XXL Biggest Wave World Record" to its Big Wave Awards competition. And after digging through the archives, they validated the performance of the Brazilian surfer.
