Suddenly, Nazaré was very much on the surfing radar.īy this point, the McNamaras were returning each winter, when the waves are biggest, and setting down roots. That first winter, McNamara was towed into a wave that was later to be judged 78 feet high - a new world record. McNamara was joined by a small group of fellow big wave enthusiasts, such as the UK’s Andrew Cotton, Germany’s Sebastian Stuednter, and local fisherman Hugo Vao. However, word soon starting getting out of his exploits. In the early years, Garrett would sample the magic alone - as Nicole watched on alone from the fort. Andrew Cotton, a Nazaré veteran, broke his back in a horrific fall last year. In 2017, British surfer Tom Butler pierced his lung and almost drowned. The following winter season (when the waves are biggest), she would return to surf it,and last year, she claimed the Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman - registered at 68-feet high.īut the close-shaves have continued at Nazaré. CPR, performed on the beach by her surfing partner Carlos Burle, saved her life. In 2014, Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira had to be rescued after she was found floating unconscious face down after a wipeout. Longbottom is far from the first person to have nearly died at Nazaré. He later described the experience as the closest he had ever come to dying in the ocean. If it wasn’t for the bravery of a jet ski driver who rescued him, he probably wouldn’t have survived. Photo: Paul DudleyĪfter being held underwater for 30 seconds, Longbottom surfaced perilously close to the giant rocks that line the cliff. non-competitive) session on the Sunday.Īt Nazaré this year, Dylan Longbottom looks back in horror as a wave starts to break above him. Two days prior, the ‘Nazaré Challenge’ big-wave surfing competition had been held here, and with even more giant surf forecast, the broadcast team had been kept in place to capture a potentially historic “free surfing” (ie. Meanwhile, the WSL, surfing’s governing body, were broadcasting the session to a worldwide audience. Alongside me at the fort at Nazaré, the infamous Portuguese big wave surfing spot, and lined up along the cliffs, were thousands of surf fans and tourists. I wasn’t the only one watching helplessly, either. It was all unfolding just 100 feet below me, but it was like watching a mate being tied to the tracks as the train came bearing down on him. From my vantage point, had I wanted to add to my friend’s difficulties, I could have thrown a rock down to his exact location. But none as traumatic - or witnessed at such close quarters - as this. I’ve known Longbottom for 20 years, and seen him in difficult situations before.
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