Watch: Highlights From The 2024 Nazare Big Wave Challenge
With a strong Atlantic swell building and surf hitting 30 to 40 feet, it was a monumental day at the 2024 Nazare Big Wave Challenge as Brazil's Lucas Chianca and Maya Gabiera stormed the podium to win the men's and women's individual divisions. Doubling down, Chianca also won the team division along with partner Pedro Scooby.
“It's super exciting and a little nerve-wracking at the same time," said Nazare pioneer and event consultant Garrett McNamara when the day got underway. "It's been building all day, the swell is here. The energy hasn't fully filled in and the swell is supposed to turn a little bit more North which equals bigger and better waves. But it's already perfectly contestable and the guys out there I guarantee will put on an amazing show!"
And while it wasn't record-breaking Nazare, there was plenty of size and the light winds kept the conditions clean and favorable all day long. The friendlier surf allowed competitors to really open up and push their performance limits as creative lines, big turns and even a few airs were the order of the day. To be expected, Chianca took full advantage of the conditions to continue his dominance at Nazare. Having won the event three years in a row now, he's unquestionably the most dominant surfer to ever compete there.
And for Gabeira, the win deepens her legacy at Nazare. One of the pioneers of the spot over a decade there, she's suffered some of the most brutal, life-threatening wipeouts of her life there, as well as broke the world record for the biggest wave ever ridden by a woman in 2020. Coming back from a knee injury, her win was accented by her grit and determination.
From inspired, record-setting performances to losing jet skis in front of the rocks, the 2024 Nazare Big Wave Challenge had a little big of everything.
Lucas Chianca Wins Nazare Big Wave Challenge For Third Straight Year
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.