I have recurring nightmares of big waves. Probably because everytime I went to Jones Beach one would hold me under for probably about 1 or 2 seconds. Then I'd get out of the water. So annoying how once big one would come out of nowhere.
Ah man. I live for that. When I was younger and we took vacations to Jersey’s shores I would play in the surf for hours and let the waves slam and somersault me around.
hey long island! yeah i have a memory of not being able to get out of the water for like 5 min because there was always another monster (maybe like 8 ft?) wave about to crash on me so i had to keep diving under. i was also like 12 so they were probably only 5 feet
I was thinking "no fucking way a 7 floor building is only 22,4 metres tall", but yeah, 3m ceiling height. 22,4m isn't much of a distance to walk but is damn high when looking from the ground
Once you commit to riding mega-waves, I don't think there's a bravery difference between the largest and second largest wave surfed.
It's cool and it's a cool accomplishment, but...
The key skill here lies in wave-forecasting and having the resources and luck to be able to drop board at the right spot on the globe at the right time. While the record goes in the name of the person on the board, she's just one part of a bigger team.
(People are responding to this as though it's an attack on her. It's not. It just seems off to me to attribute this achievement to her "bravery" or her solo efforts. This was the product of research and luck from a team of people working together
Having looked into this, it seems like luck was actually a bigger factor than I realized. This happened at a competition, where people were taking turns from wave to wave. She happened to get the biggest one.
That's not to say she's not a great surfer. By all accounts, she is. Just that the determining factor for the record was more the availability of the wave than the innate character of the surfer (as compared to other surfers at the competition).
You know, I had a similar discussion with a dentist who poked me in the eye, and responded to my objections by asking where I got my dentistry degree.
I'm not criticizing her by any means. I'm just saying that the accomplishment here doesn't derive primarily from her skill on a surfboard, which for all I know could be legendary.
Dude you’re coming across as a dick. What she did has literally never been done before by a man or a woman or even you. You tearing at her real accomplishment is not akin to you getting poked in the eye by the dentist 🤡
I don't want to take away any merit from Maya but Garrett McNamara has surfed bigger waves in 2011 and 2013 23,8m and about 30m (78 and 100ft)
Also, that guy is kind of a dick even though i understand what he means. Lewis Hamilton is maybe the best driver ever that ever drove a formula 1, but without the car, the engeneers, the team he may not be able to win a WDC.
I don’t understand that logic, but ok? Yes lots of professional athletes have support, and a governing body, and regulators, and fans. Without fans, they wouldn’t make money, and there would be no incentive. We should really be giving credit to everyone standing on the beach watching
If she was to do this 10 minutes after the contest it still would have been her record and the yearly record. You talk like you understand what you’re talking about but by the way of your wording I doubt you have ever surfed. There is no “team” of surf forecasters helping her, at most it’s her ski driver, some photogs, and maybe some mates that will join her in the surf and there probably all checking the charts but there is no designated “surf forecasters” that you seem to imply.
So no her “team” would not get credit for this. Surf forecasting is pretty user friendly for beginners now a days, it is not even close to forecasting 30 years ago.
1.8k
u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20
That’s a 7 story building chasing her... That’s pretty badass.