Photo by Damien Poullenot/WSL via Getty Images

Following several weeks of review, the WSL announced today that the category for the biggest wave surfed by a woman this year was won by Maya Gabeira of Brazil, beating out close competition from Justine Dupont of France.

Gabeira's bomb was measured by scientists from the WaveCo Science team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California at 73 feet (22,25 meters), slightly longer than Dupont's and also longer than the men's winner, surfed by Kai Lenny (70 feet).

The wave entered the Guinness Book of Records, surpassing the one she herself had surfed a few years earlier.

“This wave was during the Nazaré event and I am not a competitive person but that day I was in my zone and braver than I usually am on a day like this,” said the Brazilian.

“I took more risks than usual. When I let go of the rope, I felt like it could be the wave but I wasn’t sure. The speed was high but the sound the wave made when breaking made me think it was probably the biggest wave I had ever surfed,” she added.

The wave was just seven feet away from the 80-foot bomb, the largest ever surfed, which fellow Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa rode.

The Brazilian highlighted the fact that a woman was the first to surf the biggest wave. “This is something I had dreamed of for a long time, but it wasn’t realistic,” she said.

This was the end of this year's Big Wave Awards, which had the distinction of not having a gala due to the Covid-19 pandemic.