37-year-old Sebastian Steudtner hit a world record in October 2022 by riding on an unbelievably 86 feet high wave. The German surfer created history by riding on the world’s largest wave at Nazaré, Portugal. To perform such an impossible life-risking stunt, Steudtner followed scientific approaches to understand the aerodynamics of his surfboard, body, and wetsuit. However, riding a high surf wave was not difficult enough for the surfing scientist. In fact, more than surfing, Steudtner finds boxing to be a far more challenging sport.

On May 8, Sebastian Steudtner appeared in an interview with CNN talking about his varied interests in several activities. In that conversation, he drew parallels between surfing and boxing and also explained why he adores the latter so much.

Surfing scientist Sebastian Steudtner would have been a boxer

In his latest interview with CNN, the surfing scientist revealed that he has immense love for boxing. He even drew comparisons with the surfing arena. Highlighting the equal risks involved in both sports, Steudtner explained, “It’s the same thing – you have to be prepared to die. That’s the first thing, at a certain level, and that’s not because boxers or surfers die left and right, but it’s the mentality you have to bring into the ring that has to be ‘I am going to kill you or you’ll kill me’ – full stop.”

He added that the comparison is just not limited to the risk of losing a life. According to the surfing scientist, both boxing and surfing involved strategy and dancing in a certain way. However, for Steudtner, boxing was the most beautiful and technical sport. He added, “nothing is more technical than boxing, nothing.” He admitted that he would definitely be a boxer had he not been a surfer. Furthermore, he revealed that Russian and Mexican boxers are his favorite athletes for their simple yet effective training techniques.

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While surfers like Sebastian Steudtner successfully ride high surf waves, many surfers fail in their lofty attempts.

Surfer breaks his ribs during his expedition in Tahiti

Tahiti is one of the most renowned surfing spots in the world, where waves rise at a height of 80 ft at times. Recently, British big-wave surfer Tom Lowe experienced a terrible wipeout during his expedition at Tahiti. While surfing, he was thrown into the ocean headfirst. As a result, Lowe experienced multiple fractures in his ribs and got an internal hemorrhage.

Luckily, he was saved from more damage from the wipeout with the help of the bystanders, who immediately took him to the hospital. Moreover, after undergoing several surgeries, Lowe told on his Instagram that he was lucky to have made it out of danger.

Surfers like Sebastian Steudtner understand the science behind surfing stunts before performing them. However, all surfers can’t be as vigilant as him. Therefore, surfers need to prioritize their safety.

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