‘Everything hurts’: record for world’s longest surf broken in Sydney
Sydney man Blake Johnston has broken the record for the longest surf session ever held after taking to the water at 1am on Thursday and harbouring plans to surf through until Friday evening to raise money for mental health.
During a short break, Johnston admitted that “everything hurts” and the marathon session was harder than he anticipated.
“I’ve surfed my whole life but never in this realm. Yeah, it’s been a mental and physical challenge, to say the least,” he told Nine’s Today show.
Johnston has smashed the previous record of 30 hours held by South African Josh Enslin and will continue surfing off Cronulla’s The Alley until Friday evening, taking his record up to 40 hours.
People have gathered along the beach to witness the world record attempt and offer support.
Johnston, a local surf instructor and former professional surfer, is performing the gruelling feat to raise money for the Chumpy Pullin Foundation. The charity was set up to honour the memory of professional snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, who died in 2020.
Johnston lost his father, Wayne, to suicide a decade ago.
“This is to honour the anniversary of our dad ... for Blake, it’s been like this crazy journey since we lost our dad,” brother Ben said. “This is just something to honour that and he really wants to actively show people that there are tools to deal with mental health.”
The physical strain of 40 hours in the water is extreme, with risks including sunburn, dehydration, sharks and marine stingers. The plan was to raise $250,000 for the foundation and more than $200,000 has already been donated.
Johnston’s wife Lauren said while she was relieved her husband was a new world record holder, she never had any doubt he would finish. “I knew he was always going to get the goal that he set,” she said.
The 40-year-old said earlier this week he wanted to inspire the kids he now coaches in surfing and provide them with practical tools and support to make it through tough times.
“I’m not nice to myself at times. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be a great husband, father and friend,” he said.
Johnston’s goal to surf more than 500 waves – at an average of one wave every six minutes – has also been smashed with more than 533 waves ridden before 9am on Friday.
“Yeah, I’m stoked, but I’m cooked. I’ve still got another long eight hours left in the water today. So just dealing with that at the moment. This is way harder than I anticipated,” he said.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org
briel and Aaron Ramsdale were among those to need treatment during the game. Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko also appeared to pick up knocks. These were consequences of a tense, bruising, engaging cup tie but Arsenal cannot afford to lose first-teamers for their title drive.
“Tomiyasu looks pretty serious, from his reaction straightaway and what he said to me,” Arteta said. The right-back had appeared to overstretch after being left for dead by Francisco Trincão early on. He was less clear about the significance of Saliba’s ailment, which saw him replaced straight after Granit Xhaka had given Arsenal the lead, but losing the Frenchman for any length of time would be a sizeable blow.
In his absence Arsenal were unconvincing at the back although it did not help that the defence was exposed by a negligent midfield. Sporting had shown flickers of danger in the first half and begun the second period strongly when they punished Granit Xhaka and Jorginho for overplaying near halfway, although nobody could have predicted the consequence of their laxness. Pedro Gonçalves was six yards inside Arsenal’s half when, from nothing, he elected to shoot and caught Aaron Ramsdale off his line. The ball sailed over his head and in; it was a stunning goal and Arsenal, who had refused to turn the screw, had it coming to them.
“A huge blow,” Arteta said of the disappointment that followed. “We really wanted to go through, fight and go for it. We tried for 120 minutes and it wasn’t enough.” For the final hour Arteta fielded his first choice front six, assuming Trossard is part of that for now, but while they stemmed Sporting’s flow they rarely clicked. Trossard should have won it when Dário Essugo’s disastrous backpass sent him through but Adán diverted on to a post; Gabriel was agonisingly close with two headers at the death, one cleared off the line, but when you court jeopardy so often it will not always fall for you.
Arteta will simply be relieved if Ramsdale, who took a whack to the face when denying Marcus Edwards a winner late in normal time, and his hobbling colleagues are fit to face Crystal Palace on Sunday. A straightforward evening’s work had seemed likely when Xhaka swept in emphatically after Martinelli, sent away beautifully by Jorginho, had shot too close to Adán. Sporting had started with intent but did not appear especially equipped to come back until grasping that Arsenal were a shadow of their usual intense selves.
The good news came in the form of a successful full comeback for Gabriel Jesus, who started for the first time since returning from injury and departed at half-time as planned. Jesus looked sharp enough and almost doubled the lead when, after twisting into space, his angled drive was stopped by the inspired Adán. His availability will look especially timely if Arsenal’s collateral damage transpires to have been heavy.
Arteta’s task is to ensure confidence does not take a hit and he said Martinelli, disconsolate at the end, would “react well” to his fluffed penalty. Clear heads may be able to take advantage of free midweeks over the next two months. “The disappointment is not going to go away,” he said. “But there’s also a clarity. There are 11 games to go and we have a final against Palace.” Win that, and the impossibility of a May showpiece in Budapest will feel all the more palatable.