British surfer Laura Crane is on the cusp of making history after riding what may be the biggest wave ever conquered by a woman, during a dramatic day at Portugal’s renowned Nazaré Big Wave Challenge. As the surfing world holds its breath, Crane, 30, waits for the official verdict from judges and Guinness World Records, who are now meticulously analyzing her jaw-dropping ride. If confirmed, her feat would eclipse the current women’s world record of 73.5 feet, set by Brazil’s Maya Gabeira in 2020—and mark a monumental moment for British surfing.
On Saturday, December 13, 2025, as the winter swells battered the Portuguese coastline, Crane was towed into the monstrous wall of water by her teammate and jet ski driver, Antonio Laureano. The event itself had been temporarily halted due to a technical fault, but for Crane, the opportunity was too precious to pass up. With daylight fading and the swell dying, it was a race against time. Most competitors had already packed up, but Crane and fellow Briton Andrew Cotton seized the moment, heading back out with their teams.
"This is going to be a bomb," Laureano told her as he accelerated across the face of the wave, hitting around 30 miles per hour before releasing her onto the rolling giant. What followed, Crane described as "like flying" and a "total out of body experience which I don’t have words for." As she recounted to The Times, "You are moving so quickly and you don’t have much control of what is going to happen and it’s just having to trust yourself, your training, your body and mind and trust the ocean that everything is going to work out OK."
Nazaré, a small fishing village north of Lisbon, has become a mecca for big wave surfers in recent years, thanks to its unique three-mile-deep underwater canyon that funnels Atlantic energy into waves the size of ten-story buildings. It’s a place where legends are made—and sometimes lost. Several surfers have suffered life-threatening injuries here, and in 2023, veteran Marcio Freire tragically died after disappearing under a wave. It’s a high-stakes arena where every ride can be a brush with both glory and danger.
Crane’s journey to this pivotal moment has been anything but straightforward. Hailing from Croyde, north Devon, she first fell in love with surfing at age eight, shortly after moving to the coastal village. By twelve, she was traveling the world, racking up sponsorships and titles. But as her profile rose, so did the challenges. Crane has spoken candidly about the sexism she faced in the sport, being encouraged from a young age to present herself more as a model than an athlete. "I was told to go on Instagram aged 15 and encouraged to fill it with pictures of myself posing in a swimsuit or next to a surfboard, but never actually surfing," she recalled. The pressure led to an eating disorder at sixteen, a struggle she says is not uncommon among women in surfing.
After nearly a decade competing, the mounting expectations took their toll. Crane took a break from the sport, even appearing on the reality TV show Love Island—a decision she now describes as misguided, especially given the backlash she received for not fitting the typical image. In 2019, her health took a dramatic turn when she was hospitalized with sepsis. "I believe this was my body’s way of rejecting my new London lifestyle," she reflected, and soon after she returned to the waves, determined to reclaim her athletic identity.
Her resilience was tested again earlier this year when she broke her ankle during a Nazaré training session, thrown by one of the break’s infamous monsters. The injury could have ended her season, but instead, it fueled months of intense rehabilitation and preparation for the winter’s big wave competition. "Preparing for Nazaré involves months of breath and strength training," Crane explained. "But the most important thing is teaching my mind to remain calm in incredibly stressful situations."
On Saturday, all that preparation was put to the ultimate test. As Crane dropped into the wave, she experienced a rush of fear—"the body’s response to danger," she said—but quickly steadied herself, focusing on the moment and trusting her instincts. "As I looked back over my shoulder and saw this thing, your first feeling is fear... and the next step is having to really control that and make sure you are as present in that moment and trust that you can do it."
Crane’s feat is now under the microscope, with judges from the Big Wave Challenge and Guinness World Records working to determine the exact height of the wave. The verification process is notoriously painstaking, often taking months or even years, as experts analyze video, photographs, and environmental data to calculate the true scale of each ride. "I’m lucky her [Gabeira’s] angle is similar to mine, so it’s easy to compare," Crane noted, expressing cautious optimism that her wave stood taller than the current record.
The moment she was picked up by her support team on the jet ski, Crane was overcome with emotion. "I cried straight away," she admitted. "It was just incredible tears of happiness and joy, and that I got to have this incredible experience with this wave that I have seen in my dreams a million times over." The relief was palpable. "Once you look over your shoulder at the most critical part, when it’s breaking over your head, you are just trying not to freak out about what is towering behind you. And there is a big moment of relief when your driver is there to pick you up." Her photographer, witnessing the scale of the wave, exclaimed, "I don’t think you understand how big that wave was."
For Crane, this potential world record is more than personal triumph—it’s a milestone for British surfing. "It’s very exciting for British surfing," she said, beaming with pride. "I believe I have been training for this my whole life. Big wave surfing is really interesting and your life experiences play a part in your mental strength. I wouldn’t want to live through some of the things I have lived through again, but it’s given me a thick skin and belief to keep fighting and keep that path open for someone else after me as well. It’s a lifetime in the making and I will still keep going."
As the surfing world awaits the official measurement, Laura Crane’s story is already inspiring a new generation of athletes. Her perseverance through injury, personal struggles, and the relentless challenge of Nazaré’s waves demonstrates the grit and spirit that define the sport. Whether or not the record is confirmed in the coming months, Crane’s ride will go down as one of the most electrifying moments in big wave surfing—and a testament to the power of resilience, both in and out of the water.
For now, all eyes remain fixed on the judges’ ruling, but one thing is certain: Laura Crane has already made a splash that will echo through the surfing world for years to come.