On Tuesday, German surfer Sebastian Steudtner broke Guinness World Record for surfing the biggest wave in the world.
While the achievement had taken place on October 29, 2020, it took almost 18 months for the official Guinness World Record verification to happen.
Steudtner, three-time winner of the World Surf League’s Big Wave Award, broke the record by surfing a 26.2 meter (85.9 feet) high wave at the Praia do Norte beach in Nazaré in Portugal. With this, he broke the previous record held by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, who surfed a 24.4 meters (80 feet) high wave on November 8, 2017.
New record: Largest wave surfed (unlimited) – male 🌊 26.21 m (86 feet) by Germany’s @SebastianSurfs
📽️ Jorge Leal + @wsl pic.twitter.com/Cb1c8vKP3Z
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) May 24, 2022
While celebrating his achievement, Steudtner shared the footage of him surfing the massive wave on Instagram and wrote, “We define the possible 💪 This wave has officially been named a WORLD RECORD! I’m really proud of this achievement and of my whole team’s performance. It was my dream since I was a kid to become a surfer and I’ve always stayed true to that..⚡I hope my journey and this world record will inspire lots of others to chase their dreams as well! @guinnessworldrecords @wsl #stayready #readyfornazare #bigwavesurfing #worldrecord”.
It is interesting to note that the Praia do Norte beach where Steudtner broke the record is known for producing high waves due to its special geographic location. The beach is the site of “Nazaré Canyon”, which is a 170 km long and 5 km deep fault in the sea bed that creates unusually massive waves.
