World’s Longest surfing record has been broken by an Australian man, Blake Johnston, surpassing 30 hours in duration. Upon completing his feat, he was hoisted onto the shoulders of his friends and carried along Cronulla beach in the southern region of Sydney. Despite his accomplishment, Johnston admitted to feeling exhausted, stating that he was “pretty cooked”.
In support of mental health awareness, Johnston commenced his surfing marathon early on Thursday morning. His efforts have resulted in an impressive fundraising total of A$335,000 (£185,000; $225,000) for charitable causes.
Throughout the night, spotlights were used to illuminate the section of Cronulla’s surf popularly referred to as “The Alley”, allowing Johnston to continue his surfing marathon. By the end of his feat, he had surfed over 700 waves. The previous world record of 30 hours and 11 minutes had been held by Josh Enslin of South Africa.
Despite the significant risks involved, including the possibility of blindness, infected ears, dehydration, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, shark attacks, and jellyfish stings, Blake Johnston, a 40-year-old former professional surfer and distance runner, persevered with his surfing marathon.
On Friday at lunchtime, Johnston took a brief break from the sea to undergo a medical check-up and receive eye drops. After the short pause, he returned to the water to continue his record-breaking surfing session. When he finally emerged from the sea, he was wearing a black cowboy hat and wrapped in a thermal blanket.
Blake’s Brother view on his Accomplishment
Blake’s brother, Ben, spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about the experience of surfing alongside Blake at 2am when the lights went out, and they were left in complete darkness. Despite the challenging conditions, including a large number of jellyfish in the water, Blake persevered.
Before embarking on his record-breaking feat, Blake expressed confidence in his ability to endure the challenge, drawing on his experience as a former professional surfer and distance runner. He stated, “I believed I could do it. I have run for 40 hours, so I thought, why not surf for 40 hours?”
In addition to pushing his own limits, Johnston’s motivation for breaking the surfing record was to bring people together and raise funds for a good cause. Specifically, he chose to support the Chumpy Pullin Foundation, which was established in memory of Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, an Australian Olympic snowboarder who tragically drowned off the Gold Coast while spearfishing in 2020.
In addition to the foundation, Johnston is also raising funds for mental health charities, inspired by his father’s suicide a decade ago and the loss of three friends to mental health conditions, as reported in the media.