It seems that Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa was born without fear, because that’s the only way I can explain the reasoning behind taking on a 80-foot (24 metre) monster like this.

He is now the proud owner of the Guinness World Record for biggest wave ever surfed, dropping in on a beast off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, an area notorious for its massive swells.

Koxa actually rode the wave way back in November, but the record only became official this past Saturday.

First up, Koxa and the wave:

You know it’s a biggie when the surfer is just a speck on the wave.

Koxa was honoured with the Quiksilver XXL Biggest Wave Award at a World Surf League ceremony in Los Angeles, and he was understandably stoked.

Huff Post reports:

“I got a present from God,” Koxa told The Inertia online surf news site after the awards ceremony. “It was the best present I’ve ever had.”

Koxa said he almost was killed in 2014 at Nazaré, where many of the world’s biggest surfing waves are.

“For months later, I had bad dreams, I didn’t travel, I got scared, and my wife helped me psychologically,” he said. “Now, I’m just so happy.”

Oh, so he does feel fear. That’s quite a comeback.

Wipeout of the Year went to British surfer Andrew Cotton, also at Nazaré, who broke his back in this tumble:

I doff my caps to these nutters, because the sound of the wave alone would send me home.

The previous world record for biggest wave was set back in 2011 by Garrett McNamara, who rode a 78-foot wave, also at Nazaré:

To quote Chad le Clos’ father Bert, ‘UNBELIEVABLE’.

[source:huffpost]