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.”
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
RSS