The life of Maya Gabeira, the Brazilian who surfed the biggest wave in the world

Surfer Maya Gabeira entered the record books with the biggest wave surfed by a woman. The feat was achieved in January 2018, when she dominated a 21-meter-high wave at Praia do Norte, in Nazaré (Portugal).

O awesome.club brings you the story of this woman from Rio de Janeiro who, in 2013, had an accident that almost left her in a wheelchair

Daughter of writer and journalist Fernando Gabeira, Maya was born in Rio de Janeiro, and despite that, she didn’t like going to the beach as a child. She preferred tap, jazz and ballet. However, at age 14, she entered a surf school in Rio through the influence of a boyfriend at the time. At 17, she moved to Hawaii and worked as a waitress to make ends meet.

It was 10.6 meters high, just over half that earned it the Guinness Book, however, significant for the time. Maya is a five-time winner of the Billabong XXL, the giant wave circuit, and was also the first woman to surf waves from Teahupoo, Tahiti, and Ghost Tree, California. The surfer was also the first woman to ride waves in Alaska.

Maya was already famous in the surfing world for catching giant waves. She wanted to get to know a new place where the waves were the biggest in the world, in Nazaré, Portugal, opened just two years before. To overcome this challenge, she had the help of a team that accompanied her for four months, formed by athletes Carlos Burle, Pedro Scooby and Felipe Cesarano.

The accident that nearly cost her her life occurred on October 28, 2013. She and the team had been following the weather forecast for a few days. And that morning was ideal for the formation of giant waves. Maya was riding a jet ski with another member of the group. Seeing the opportunity, she threw herself with her board into the water for what she knew best about doing in her life. However, something went wrong. She lost her balance, entered the huge whirlpool of water and was unconscious for about nine minutes before being rescued by her own colleagues. Still on the beach sand, the team performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures until the ambulance arrived. She woke up and, taken to the hospital; only one ankle fracture was found.

The surfer spent two years away from the big waves, dedicating herself to recovery. In addition to physiotherapy and strengthening of the ankle and body, she also took care of her head, due to the trauma she suffered. Going through the experience of almost dying scarred her forever. During the period, Maya experienced seizures again due to the severe back pain she had felt for years. To relieve these pains, she had to undergo two other surgeries. Time passed and she returned to surfing at the end of 2015, with the same team that was with her on the day of the accident.

While competing in the Hawaiian surf season, Maya again felt severe pain in her spine and needed another operation in April 2016. This time the situation was more serious and she had to implant a screw between the vertebrae. Six months later, she was back to light training with the plank.

Maya Gabeira’s comeback was confirmed in early 2018, more precisely on January 18. That day she managed to stay upright in a 21-meter wave, the highest ever surfed by a woman, in the same spot where five years earlier she almost lost her life. Because it is an unprecedented feat in Guinness, the book of records had to create a specific category for it and confirmation came at the beginning of October this year. The chief executive of the WSL (World Surfing League), Sophie Goldschmidt, said at the awards that Maya is “an example of courage, commitment and progression of female athletes around the world”.

Maya spent a vacation with her family in July 2018 in the Brazilian Northeast. She practiced a sport in which the practitioner uses a kind of kite to slide in the water called kitesurfing. She returned to Portugal, a place she chose to be one of her homes. At Praia do Norte, in Nazaré, she went back to doing what she loves most in life: surfing giant waves.

Remembering that the highest wave ever surfed by a man also belongs to a Brazilian, Rodrigo Coxa. The feat occurred on November 8, 2017, when he stayed upright on the board while surfing a giant 24-meter wave.

Overcoming obstacles is a constant in the personal and professional trajectory of many athletes. Do you know another good story to share with us?