Cover photo by WSL/Poullenot

Brazilian Guinness World Record holder for the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman, Maya Gabeira, has retired from professional surfing and big wave riding, she announced yesterday on her Instagram.

“I’m finally ready to step away from professional and big wave surfing and find something else,” said the Brazilian. “It’s given me a purpose. When I started this life it was unthinkable that a woman would be competing with men, that Nazaré would exist, that world records for women would exist… So much has changed, there are so many women surfing big waves these days,” said Gabeira.

“I am very proud and honored to have been part of the transformation of sport and this lifestyle and… It has also changed me and I say this to the people who supported me but also to those who challenged me and criticized me and at times hated me but I understand it… I was a tough person (laughs). I wanted to achieve it with desire and I had goals that people did not understand why, but I did. So, it was hard,” she added.

“I left Brazil very young and I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life,” he said. “I got into surfing to feel free and I’m leaving so free, with such a free mind and a heart so full that I have no regrets,” he concluded.

Gabeira will spend another month in Nazaré where one of the biggest swells in recent years is expected to break in the next three days.

“I am ready to move forward, continue, serve and I hope to impact the lives of more people,” she concluded.