A surfer broke the world record in surfing after riding an 80 foot wave in Portugal in November 2017. Josh King has more:
Surf’s up for Rodrigo Koxa … way up.
On November 8, 2017, the 38-year-old Brazilian surfer caught an 80-foot-tall wave in Praia do Norte off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. On April 28, the World Surf League gave him the Quiksilver XXL Biggest Wave Award padded with a $25,000 prize. Koxa’s ride also broke a Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed.
“I’m just so happy and this is the best day of my life,” Koxa said at the awards. “It’s a dream come true.”
Other winners include surfers Lucas Chianca, Paige Alms, Aaron Gold, and Ian Walsh. British surfer Andrew Cotton, who broke his back after a fall on the same day and in the same place as Koxa’s record-breaking feat, was awarded the Wipeout of the Year Award.
Previously, the record was set by Hawaii’s Garrett McNamara in 2011 with a 78-foot-tall wave off the same coast. Other surfers have said they broke that 2011 record, but Koxa’s wave was confirmed—experts can measure a wave from trough to crest by comparing it with the size of the people surfing it. (Related: “What Surfing Teaches You About Life”) CONTINUE READING
National Geographic, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com, May 1, 2018
Video by Veuer/Josh King and National Geographic
