“It was a moment of sadness and of realising I had lost control of the situation – and that it was up to fate at that point,” she says. Carlos Burle, her tow partner, found her floating face-down. In 2013 she nearly drowned after a wipe-out at Nazaré. One of those lessons almost cost Gabeira her life. Peak practice: Maya Gabeira in the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge in Portugal. “I joke that big-wave surfing was my university: I got taught by the ocean, in hard ways.” “You have to be 100% in the moment otherwise you could get injured or killed.” She says she feels fear “every time I paddle out, because I understand the consequences – but when you’re able to conquer it, that is one of the most empowering feelings.” And Gabeira describes the “life lessons” that the ocean imparts. She describes as addictive the “forced presence” that is required. Kennelly, who lives in Oahu, Hawaii, says it “attracts a really passionate person that does it for the love of the sport, not to get rich”. The women speak with a cult-like reverence for their sport. “You have to be prepared for the ultimate sacrifice every time you paddle out.” “People who do ultra-endurance are like runners’ runners similarly, regular surfers have this incredible admiration for big-wave surfers and all that goes into getting that one ride,” she says. Lauren Hill, a surf journalist and the author of She Surf: The Rise of Female Surfing, likens big-wave surfers to endurance runners. And icy nerves to capitalise when it finally arrives. It takes an enormous amount of effort to be in the right place for that special wave. In Hawaii, giant might only happen once a year, if at all. In Nazaré, which has the most consistent big surf, there might be 10 days a season – winter – where waves are “big” (over 6.1m, 20ft), and just two where they are “giant” (over 15.2m, 50ft). The best breaks are legendary: Teahupo’o (“Cho-poo” or “Chopes”) in Tahiti “Jaws” off Maui, Hawaii Mavericks in northern California Praia do Norte in Nazaré. To be a big-wave surfer is to spend most of your time training and most of the rest of your time scanning weather forecasts and tracking down heavy swell. Big-wave is the unruly cousin – less commercial, more extreme. They are heavily outnumbered by men: there are close to 100 male professionals.īig-wave surfing is a separate discipline from regular surfing, which attracts more eyeballs, will soon join the Olympics and is headlined by household names like Stephanie Gilmore and Kelly Slater. Gabeira, who learn ed to surf growing up in Rio de Janeiro, is among the world’s best female big-wave riders, along with Dupont, the Hawaiians Kennelly and Paige Alms, San Franciscan Bianca Valenti, and fellow Brazilian Andrea Moller. For years they have been navigating a sea of unequal pay, limited opportunities and media objectification, fighting for the chance to make a career out of doing what they love. It represents the latest achievement for the small, steely pack of female athletes battling to claim their place in the line-ups at the world’s most tempestuous surf breaks. “Whether it was super talked about or not in the surfing community, it’s still going to move the needle forward.” “It’s a huge accomplishment for Maya and great for the sport,” says Keala Kennelly, a 42-year-old matriarch of big-wave surfing and a trailblazer for female riders. Yet its significance shouldn’t be downplayed. Riding high: Maya Gabeira surfing in Nazaré, Portugal, where last season she rode the biggest wave of any surfer – male or female. Mainstream international press seemed far more interested than surf media, a tight bundle of publications that tend to heavily favour men’s coverage. That’s when the headlines rolled in – to an extent. Difficulties with judging the wave’s height (a common issue in the sport, given the inexact science involved) and a comparable-sized ride that same day by Frenchwoman Justine Dupont, meant Gabeira’s record was only confirmed months later, on 10 September. She has a broad smile and a raspy, sun-baked voice a rack of surfboards sits behind her. The 33-year-old is speaking from her home in Nazaré, a fishing village north of Lisbon. “Oh, there was no aftermath,” Gabeira says, laughing wryly. That it happened in big-wave surfing, one of the most macho, testosterone-fuelled sports on the planet, is stunning.Įven so, the surf industry’s reaction to the ride was more ripple than tsunami. The triumph of a female athlete in any open competition – something occasionally seen in ultra-marathon running or endurance swimming – is significant. Watching footage of the ride, part of the Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge, induces goosebumps and gritted teeth: the 5ft 5in surfer, a crouching speck, slices through a wall of water the height of a seven-storey building white horses gallop at her heels as the wave crashes violently behind her.
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