Australian shreds record for longest surf session

• By Tom Housden
• BBC News, Sydney

5 hours ago

Image provide, Getty Images

An Australian man has broken the globe record for the longest surfing session – and was continuing to ride waves till Friday evening neighborhood time.

Blake Johnston’s record break came suitable right after 30 hours and 11 minutes in the water at Cronulla beach in south Sydney.

Describing himself as “relatively cooked”, Johnston told reporters he would preserve going as “I nonetheless have a job to do”.

His board-riding marathon has raised some $A240,000 (£132,000) for charity.

Image provide, Getty Images

Image caption,

Johnston is raising revenue for the Chumpy Pullin Foundation and mental general wellness charities

With spotlights to illuminate a section of Cronulla’s surf identified as “The Alley”, Johnston kept going overnight and by Friday lunchtime had ridden a lot more than 600 waves.

The 40-year-old former pro surfer and distance runner faces the threat of blindness, infected ears and dehydration, as successfully as sleep deprivation, hypothermia, shark attack and jellyfish stings.

He emerged briefly from the sea at lunchtime on Friday for a healthcare confirm-up, and to get eye-drops.

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“I surfed at two in the morning with him, and the lights really went out so it was pitch black,” his brother Ben told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“There have been a comprehensive bunch of jellyfish out there, so it was intriguing to say the least.”

Speaking ahead of his challenge, Johnston stated: “I believed, I could just do it. I can run for 40 hours,”

“But, this way, I can surf with males and females, bring in the neighborhood and make a distinction for the future.”

Johnston is fundraising for the Chumpy Pullin Foundation, set up in the memory of Australian Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin who drowned off the Gold Coast even though spearfishing in 2020.

He is also supporting mental general wellness charities, partly in tribute to his father who took his private life a decade ago.