American Surfing Legend’s Iconic 78-Foot Achievement Caught the World’s Attention in 2011: “The Whole Mountain Was Covered With Cameras”

Published 12/25/2022, 1:00 PM EST

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The sport of surfing has paved the way for many great athletes. With its open arms and deep blue tarmac, it welcomed everyone. The American surfer, GMAC AKA Garrett McNamara, is no exception. With his commendable surfing prompt in one of the largest waves, GMAC once earned the reverent Guinness world record and made it to the center of the spotlight.

For those wondering, in 2011, McNamara surfed the largest wave in Portugal and made many heads turn his way. Let’s find out more about his record-breaking prompt!

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American Surfer’s iconic prompt once bought him into the limelight

The 55-year-old American surfer, Garrett McNamara, once appeared in a YouTube episode of Network A, where he profoundly talked about his iconic achievement. As per the report, in 2011, GMAC surfed the 78-foot wave in Praia do Norte, Nazare, Portugal.

Reminiscing the historical day, Garrett said, “the day before that actual wave was ridden, the place was shut down. The whole mountain was covered with cameras”. However, on the day when Garrett made the new world record, the camera crew left the arena.

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GMAC was then towed toward the wave with the help of a jet ski. And then, he paddled his way through the giant oceanic wave successfully and dominated the field of surfing. Elaborating on his victorious triumph, McNamara recalled, “I could feel I was gonna make it. I knew I was making it”.

Garrett McNamara received Billabong awards

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In 2012, the surfer was nominated for the Billabong XXL ride of the year award. Interestingly, GMAC won two other categories of the same award, which are the Billabong XXL- Biggest wave award’ and the Billabong XXL- Wipeout of the year award.

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Moreover, in 2013, Garrett broke his own record by surfing on a 100-foot wave on the coast of Nazare, Portugal. After that, McNamara received many reverent surfing awards and earned widespread recognition. He even shares various surfing prompts and techniques on his social media handle. McNamara’s drive to win really took him to the highest pinnacle of the big azure wave.

WATCH THIS STORY – Here’s How Katie Ledecky’s Remarkable Swimming Technique Propelled Her to the Top of the World Charts

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Written by:

Purva Jain

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Purva Jain is a US Sports author for EssentiallySports. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Mody University of Science and Technology. Purva is an avid reader and author of 3 books that are published in national and international marketplaces.
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Edited by:

Abhishek Kumar