British surfer Andrew Cotton took on the waves of Praia do Norte in Nazaré last weekend and was wiped out by an 18 metre monster.
Cotton was in a group of seven hopefuls each wishing to beat the world record set by American Garrett McNamara, but was overtaken by the wave and forced under the water several times as rescuers desperately searched for him.
Cotton came up three times and each time was battered back down by the incredible size of the winter waves.
The Brit was lucky only to suffer a slight arm injury and commented in an interview with Surfing Life that he was used to falling, and that the rescue JetSkis could not spot him in the broiling surf. When underwater, Cotton lets nature take its course and does not struggle, saying that it is a bit like being drowned but knowing that he will come back to the surface sooner or later.
“The natural instinct is to fight and swim to the surface, but that is the last thing you should do. You have to relax and go with it. Holding your breath is a complete mind game, everyone can hold their breath for a few minutes, but you have to stay calm and believe in yourself.”
Cotton, a 35-year old father of two, said, “The wipeout was intense but not that bad, although I was under for quite a long time, about 15 seconds.”
He was eventually pulled to safety by rescue staff after he was hit by the fourth wave.
“When I made it to the beach I had a rush of adrenaline, but I realised I had hyper-extended my arm, so I thought it was best to conserve my strength and not go back in the water.”
Hawaii based McNamara was signed up as Portugal’s surfing ambassador after the American made worldwide news when he was filmed surfing mountainous waves at Nazaré last year, and creating a world record.
Back in November 2011, McNamara caught a 24 metre wave in Nazaré. This record beat the prior world record by over a foot, but was never accepted by his competitiors in the surfing world.
Meanwhile, McNamara continued to search for an even larger wave and in January 2013, McNamara broke his own record by surfing an estimated 30 metre wave off the coast of Nazaré, putting himself and Nazare in the media spotlight across the world.
See http://www.onfiresurfmag.com/onfire-tv/giant-nazare-11dez2014-418/ for more.
