Video: Bodysurfers Ride (and Survive) Historic 25-Foot Waves
Big wave bodysurfing is a rare, fringe phenomenon.
There’s not many lunatics out there – in fact, you could probably count all of ‘em on one hand. Two of which being Brazil’s Kalani Lattanzi and Australia’s Corey Sainsbury.
And last year, one of the craziest big wave bodysurfing sessions in history went down.
Sainsbury and Lattanzi hit Wedding Cake Island, a chunk of rock about one kilometer off the coast of Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia. And the waves that day were some of the biggest seen in over 20 years, according to the locals.
In the latest episode of AClassic, Sainsbury broke down that crazy session, a couple of the most hectic moments, and how he and Lattanzi made it back to shore in one piece.
“We were taking 20 to 30 footers,” Sainsbury said, “on our head. Just one after another after another. 45 minutes. That whole time there were no other surfers out there. There were hundreds of people on the rocks. Photographers everywhere.”
One of those photographers (and videographers) was big wave enthusiast Tim Bonython. Following the session, here’s what he reported:
“I just arrived back to Sydney from Tahiti the swell forecast was telling us that the ocean is going to erupt with some huge waves all focused directly into the Sydney City coastline (from Wollongong to Newcastle). What I did not expect is the surf to be as big as it got. Locals informed me that this swell is the biggest in decades. One Coogee local told me that their hasn't been a swell bigger since the one way back in 1974. So it was for sure an historic day to say the least and here is the evidence.”
As for Lattanzi, who’s bodysurfed everywhere from Nazaré to Mavericks, here’s what he had to say:
“A day to remember. The locals said it was the biggest Swell at this spot. Wedding Cake Island. 25 ft+ Heavy water and crazy currents.”
A day to remember, indeed. And worth a lookback on. Hit play above.
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