Maya Gabeira

Maya Gabeira holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed by a woman — a 73.5-foot (22.4-metre) wall of Atlantic water at Nazare, Portugal, set in February 2020. The record makes her story more remarkable for what preceded it: in 2013, she nearly drowned at Nazare after wiping out on a massive wave, requiring resuscitation on the beach by her tow partner Carlos Burle. She suffered a broken ankle and leg and was widely expected to retire from big wave surfing permanently. Instead, she returned to Nazare, rebuilt her physical and psychological capacity, and systematically broke the women's world record twice. Gabeira operates in a discipline that has claimed male surfers' lives and where the physical forces involved are immune to gender. Her 2026 record-hunting sessions at Nazare continue to draw coverage from international media. She has done more to establish women in big wave surfing as credible, record-setting athletes than any other competitor in the sport's history.