Surf board. File photo by Aina Jameela/Shutterstock
Jan. 6 (UPI) — Marcio Freire, the Brazilian surfer who was one of three featured in the documentary “Mad Dogs” for conquering the heaviest wave in the world in Hawaii, died in Portugal on Thursday. He was 47.
Freire died during an accident while practicing tow-in surfing on giant waves in Nazaré, a popular surfing town about 75 miles north of Lisbon, according to a news release from the country’s National Maritime Authority.
The National Maritime Authority did not identify Freire but he was named as the victim by Nazaré officials in a statement to USA Today.
Freire suffered a fall while surfing at the city’s Praia do Norte beach and firefighters were alerted around 4:20 p.m., the National Maritime Authority said.
He was taken to the beach by jet ski where first responders verified that he was suffering cardiorespiratory arrest and began resuscitation efforts.
“After several attempts, it was not possible to revert the situation, and death was declared on the spot,” officials said in the press release.
Freire’s accomplishments include paddle surfing Hawaii’s big wave surfing break known as Jaws, along with Danilo Couto and Yuri Soledade — which was documented in the “Mad Dogs” film.
Tributes to Freire began pouring in on social media after his death.
Sports photographer Fred Pompermayer posted a photo of Freire on Instagram, calling him a “very good friend and legendary surfer.”
“He was such a happy spirit, always with a smile on his face,” Pompermayer wrote in the caption. “He will be forever greatly missed. Rest in peace my friend.”
Paige Alms, the two-time Big Wave World Champion, wrote in a reply to Pompermayer’s post that Freire was “such a special person.”
American surfer Zane Kekoa Schweitzer called Freire an “inspiring waterman that was always a pleasure to be on the water with” in another comment on Pompermayer’s post.
