Professional Big Wave Surfer
Maya Gabeira: Biography at a Glance
- Maya Gabeira is a Brazilian professional big wave surfer best known for setting a Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman.
- Seven years before setting the record, her surfing career almost came to end due to a surfing accident in Nazare, Portugal that nearly killed her and a recovery that included multiple surgeries.
- The documentary Return to Nazaré by Red Bull TV shows how Gabeira returned to Nazaré after the accident, overcoming both physical and mental obstacles.
- Gabeira won the ESPY Award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete, was awarded the Billabong Girls Best Overall Performance Award four years in a row, and won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Female Action Sports Athlete.
- She released a children’s book Maya and the Beast, which shares her story of resilience and empowers others to conquer their fears.
- Gabeira is also the subject of Maya and the Wave, a documentary that highlights her record-breaking journey.
- Maya is a UNESCO Champion for the Ocean and Youth, working to protect and restore the ocean and raise awareness of sustainability issues among citizens around the world.
Videos
Biography
Maya Gabeira is a professional big wave surfer born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is best known for surfing a 22.4 m (73 ft) high wave in Nazaré, Portugal, recording a Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman.
On October 20, 2013, Gabeira was surfing a massive wave about 70 feet tall near Nazare, Portugal when she lost consciousness and nearly drowned. She had to be revived on the beach and later ended up in the hospital. The documentary Return to Nazaré by Red Bull TV shows how Maya Gabeira returned to Nazaré after having suffered the accident surfing on the same beach in 2013. It is the portrait of a struggle to overcome obstacles, both physical and mental.
In January 2018 Gabeira surfed a 20.8 m (68 ft) wave in Nazare, PT, recorded by Guinness World Records as the biggest wave surfed by a woman before setting the new record in 2020.
Gabeira won the ESPY Award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete. She was also awarded the Billabong Girls Best Overall Performance Award four years in a row and won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Female Action Sports Athlete.
Topics
Taming the Beast
Professional surfer Maya Gabeira, known for surfing Guinness World Record–breaking big waves, shares her story of resilience, defying expectations of women in sports, and daring to achieve the impossible. This conversation is an empowering reminder that every fear can be conquered and every Beast can be tamed.
