When Garrett McNamara caught a 23.7m wave off Portugal in 2011, it was greeted as a great moment in surfing history and set a Guinness World Record. Many thought that was the end of the story.
However, McNamara, now 45, returned to the Atlantic coast off Nazare on Tuesday and caught a monster wave that may well have beaten his previous feat, with some estimates putting it at more than 30.4m.
A spectacular photograph shows the Hawaiian surfer plunging down the vertical wall of water toward the town, leaving a white wake trailing behind him. The town’s surfing company, Nazare Qualifica, said it was trying to find out exactly how massive the wave had been.
Photo: Reuters / To Mane / Handout
“Authorities from the company have asked two experts from the US to certify the size of the wave,” the Lusa news agency reported.
Miguel Sousinha, head of Nazare Qualifica, said: “McNamara’s people think that the wave he surfed today is even bigger than that of 2011.”
He said the experts usually worked with the Billabong XXL surfing contest organizers.
“Nazare was hit today by a massive nord-west [sic] swell with a breeze of south-east wind!. Perfect conditions! McNamara was charging!” Billabong XXL wrote on its Facebook page on Tuesday:
The surfer tweeted on Tuesday: “Thank you for all your support. It means the world to me. Today was an awesome day and so fun.”
McNamara warned at the end of last year that he was in the perfect mood — which he calls “present moment awareness” — for creating new records.
“Garrett attributes present moment awareness to riding his world record wave last year,” his blog said. “When you are in this moment you can tap into all the energy around you and use it to create your destiny. You have no control over what has already happened and really no control over what’s going to happen.”
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
Fred Kerley is competing unaugmented against drug-fuelled athletes at this weekend’s Enhanced Games and still hopes to race in the 2028 Olympics, the suspended former 100m world champion said on Friday. Arguably the biggest name at the divisive event in Las Vegas, where doping is permitted, the US sprinter said he had chosen not to take any of the banned substances including testosterone and steroids that his competitors have been using. “I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I’m here to showcase my talent,” Kerley said. Kerley last September became the first US competitor and first track
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
RSS