Maya Gabeira

Surfer Maya Gabeira officially set the record for the highest wave ridden in the 2019-20 winter season, surfing a 73.5-foot (22.4 meter) giant wave in Nazare, Portugal on Feb. 11.

The 33-year-old Brazilian, who nearly drowned surfing a similar wave at the same spot in 2013, beat the previous records set by surfers of both genders. Gabeira’s wave was measured as the biggest to have been surfed after analysis by teams from the University of Southern California, WaveCo

Science Team, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

“To have a woman in this position in a male-dominated sport is a dream come true!” Gabeira posted online. “I think it would have been unthinkable years ago. But deep down, I had already dreamt of it!

“I had never been so close to such a powerful explosion.

I had never felt that energy and that noise. It felt really terrifying.”

Gabeira’s 2013 accident saw her swallowed by a giant wave, which broke one of her legs, injured her spine and stopped her from breathing, and she had to be revived with CPR. She later underwent three operations to repair her injuries, and years of therapy.

She told The Times: “I realized that the worst that would ever happen to me in the ocean was about to happen. I suffered a lot through those minutes, slowly losing consciousness. I thought about never seeing my family again. Then I found peace. I accepted death.”