Blake Johnston, a former professional surfer from Australia, set a new world record for the longest recorded surfing session by spending 40 hours on the water at Cronulla Beach in Sydney.
The 40-year-old started his feat at 1 a.m. on Thursday and surpassed the previous record of 30 hours and 11 minutes held by South African Josh Enslin on Friday morning. He continued surfing until Friday evening, extending the new record to over 40 hours on the water.
“I’ve still got a job to do. I said 40 [hours] so I’ll go and give it a crack,” he said to reporters during one of his breaks after passing the previous record.
He rode more than 600 waves and dodged swarms of jellyfish in his quest to set the 40-hour record in Australia.
“I’m pretty cooked, yeah, but we’ll push through,” he said.
Johnston undertook this challenge to raise money for youth mental health initiatives in collaboration with the Chumpy Pullin Foundation, a charity named after Australian snowboarder Alex Pullin who died last year. He raised more than AUS$330,000 (roughly $220,000 or €210,000), and timed the attempt to mark 10 years since his father had taken his own life.
“Everyone deserves to feel awesome, deserves to take care of yourselves. Good on you,” he said.
Large spotlights were used to illuminate the water to help guide him at night. He could take short breaks to eat and drink. Medics checked his heart rate and blood pressure before allowing him to return to the water.
The risk of hypothermia was low with water temperature around 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) with March among the warmest periods of the year for oceans in the southern hemisphere and following warm autumnal temperatures in Sydney of late.
This was not Johnston’s first participation in a marathon test of human endurance. In 2020, he ran 100 kilometers along the rugged coastline south of Sydney, covering most of the trek barefooted.
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