Maya Gabeira – Guinness World Record Breaker!

Last Updated on April 5, 2021 3:18 pm by

Maya Reis Gabeira is a Brazilian surfer who was born in Rio de Janeiro on April 10, 1987. Her story is worthy of a documentary on any streaming platform, considering what happened in 2013, when she almost died on the beaches of Nazaré – a small fishing port located north of Lisbon.

Her beginnings in the world of surfing started when she was 14 years old through her boyfriend’s love of surfing on the coasts of Rio de Janeiro. Maya decided to stop being a simple spectator on the beaches and enrolled in the Arpoador school and, with her board in hand, she managed to learn the millions of secrets of surfing.

Later, she went on an exchange to Australia, where she truly fell deeply in love with this beautiful sport and when she turned 17, she made the difficult decision to go live alone in Hawaii.

In 2007, thanks to her excellent performance surfing in the waves of Tahiti, she became one of the world’s surfing elite and began to be considered one of the best big wave surfers in the world, because these are the ones she is passionate about surfing – those that measure more than 10 meters, in which physical, mental and nature itself are challenged.

She points out that she is always afraid, but that she carefully studies all the factors that could affect her when surfing any wave. But not everything works out the way she plans. On October 28, 2013, she experienced one of the most serious accidents in her entire career, off the coast of Nazaré, in Portugal. In this competition, Maya tried to surf a wave over 20 meters high, but it simply knocked her unconscious and almost cost her life. Her friend and personal trainer Carlos Burle thankfully rescued her.

Outstanding Awards in Her Career

• ESPY Award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete (2009)
• Girls Best Overall Performance Award (2010)
• Documentary Return to Nazaré, as Maya Gabeira
• The largest wave surfed by a woman 20.7 meters high
• 2020 Guinness Record as the woman to surf the highest wave in history

As for the Guinness Record: every winter, the aggressive beaches of Nazaré become the tribunes of the spectators who gather to see the most daring and fearless surfers launching into the sea that presents the largest waves on the planet. On February 11, Maya went to challenge this sea again, the 33-year-old surfer helped and was accompanied by her tugboat, the German Sebastian Steudtner. Notably, Maya Gabeira is the only female surfer competing in the men’s surf division. After letting go of the rope, where her tugboat was dragging her, Maya managed to win and take revenge on the seas that almost took her life and managed to surf the largest wave anyone has been able to surf a 22.4-meter-high wave.

Check out some of the best moments of Maya Gabeira

(Video courtesy of www.youtube.com and the YouTube channel SurferToday)