Sports

Watch This Surfer Shred What May Be The ‘Biggest’ Wave In History — And Potentially Break The World Record 

(FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty Images)

Jena Greene Reporter
Font Size:

British surfer Tom Butler may have just shattered a world record by surfing what’s now being called the “biggest” wave on record.

Butler, who is 29 years old and hails from the tiny seaside area of Cornwall, England, surfed an estimated 100-foot wave at The Nazaré in Portugal on Friday. The previous record is just a measly 80 feet, held by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa. (RELATED: Watch This Surfer Brutally Wipe Out While Trying To Conquer A Massive Wave)

Onlookers, who were equally terrified and mystified, caught the action on camera. Somehow, the footage is more unbelievable than the actual story.

WATCH:

Tom, who says surfing this wave felt like “running away from a raging bull,” is confident he’ll break the world record. According to The Mirror, he said:

It’s the biggest wave surfed in the world this season and could beat the current big wave world record. When I was going down I thought, ‘Holy f**k, this is the fastest I’ve ever been.’ Time kind of slows down, it’s instinct really. I was doing everything to hold my balance. That’s when you’re training comes in — I do lots of gymnastics training to help me keep balanced. It’s hard to say exactly how big it was, I’d say it was 20 times my height and I’m 6 ft. 2 in. You don’t really see it behind you because you’re so concentrated on what’s ahead of you.

The next step is to submit photographic evidence to World Surf League and let the pros determine if he did indeed break a world record. For now, Tom is focused on catching more waves.

“There’s more time to go,” he said. “The Atlantic will keep producing big waves in January and February.”

Talk about an appetite for danger.

Follow Jena on Twitter