Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira broke her previous record and surfed at 73.5 feet. This latest achievement breaks her previous record by almost 5 and a ½ feet.

The World Surf league validated her record, and she was conferred with the cbdMD XXL Biggest Wave Award and the Red Bull Big Wave award.

May rode this wave on 11 February 2020 at the WSL Nazare Tow surfing challenge held in Praia do Norte, Portugal. Her previous record was also set up in 2018 at the same location.

Even before she could enter the waves, Maya knew she was in big trouble. This beach is said to get the tallest waves, and any mistake could be dangerous.

When she heard the 20 ft wave almost about to strike, the feeling was of fear. Maya thought she would die as there are limited chances of her surviving such a vast wave.

The YouTube video of her achievement YouTube shows how a wave with almost 144 kgs weight attacked the girl next. The impact threw away her life jacket, hurt one of her legs, and she went unconscious.

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Revival

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Her fellow surfer Carlos Burle rescued her at that point. It was difficult to get Maya back to the shore as repeated waves for attacking them repeatedly. Burle reached the beach after 10 minutes post, which Maya was given CPR and brought back to life.

This episode happened in 2013, and after this incident, Maya showed the courage to hit the waves and break the records twice. The Guinness book of world records confirmed her latest achievement on 10th September this year. Till 24th September, this was also the highest wave ridden by anyone in 2020.

Comeback

Maya reiterated that she was sure of never being able to surf again. That is when she asked to see the video of her accident once again. She was shaken up but not ready to give up so soon. Her purpose in seeing the video was to recollect what went wrong at that time. She seemed to have no memories of what happened.

Physical and mental scars

This accident delayed her by four years as the injuries were more in-depth than she thought. Her back was injured, for which three operations were conducted. However, Maya was worried that this accident had shaken up her confidence, and she would never manage to face the waves again. Her enthusiasm was in deep shambles.

Riding monstrous waves

Another problem was that Maya was specialized in riding giant waves. This category of people is different from those who ride small waves and participate in competitions. These huge waves require an extra level of skills. Such waves are quite big and require the surfer to be quick and adept at handling them. So, if she needed to make a comeback, she had to tame one of the big waves coming her way.

Knowing the enemy

To tackle the enemy better, Maya moved to a Portuguese fishing village in 2015. Since the age of 17, Maya was living in Hawaii, and that is how she had learned the tricks of surfing. However, if she wanted to ace the enemy, she had to practice in the same waves, which brought her down. 9th November 2017 was the day when she started practicing on the monstrous waves once again.

Happy and relaxed

However, this time she was quite relaxed when she hit the waves again. In 2018 she again tamed a colossal wave and set a record for controlling a 20.7 m high wave. It was the biggest wave surfed by a woman. However, there was only one record category for both men and women, and she was not considered.

In August 2018, though, the WSL contacted her, citing that they were thinking of certifying the wave. A petition from around 20000 people got her the attention, and Guinness finally acknowledged her achievement.

This controversy showed the gender disparity in the industry. Even till 2019, men were earning more than women surfers. There are more male competitions than female ones, and that shows the disparity present.

Her parents support

People were surprised to see Maya standing up for her rights. Her father is Fernando Gabeira, a Brazilian politician and journalist and a critic of Brazil’s dictatorship rule. He says that Maya is working for the rights of female surfers, and that is much needed. Both he and her mother, Yame Reis, have got used to Maya being persistent.

Reis says they have no desire to interfere with her life. According to them, the best they can do is to keep supporting her. Reis often visits her in Nazare and, despite the fears, encourages her daughter to perform to her best abilities.