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Veteran Brazilian surfer Marcio Freire has died while practising tow-in surfing on giant waves in Nazare on the central coast of Portugal.
- Marcio Freire was pulled from the water by support staff on jet-skis during a practice session
- Members of the surfing community are remembering him as a "happy spirit", "always with a smile"
- An 5-kilometre-deep underwater canyon means Navare has some of the biggest waves in the world
Support staff on jet-skis managed to get the 47-year-old to the beach on Thursday, local time, but all attempts to revive him failed, according to local maritime support staff.
Freire was one of the three Brazilian surfers who became known as "the Mad Dogs" after conquering the giant wave, Jaws, in Hawaii. They featured in the 2016 documentary Mad Dogs.
Tributes from other surfers poured in on Instagram.
"He surfed all day with a big smile on his face. That's how I'll keep him in my memory. Legend," posted fellow big wave surfer Nic von Rupp.
"Today we lost a great man, a very good friend and a legendary surfer, Marcio Freire," wrote sports photographer Fred Pompermayer.
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"He was such a happy spirit, always with a smile on his face […] Rest in peace my friend."
Nazare boasts some of the biggest waves in the world.
They are magnified by an underwater canyon that is 5-kilometres deep, which ends where the North Atlantic meets the shoreline near the former fishing village.
Hawaiian Garrett McNamara put Nazare on the map in 2011 when he set a world record for the biggest wave ever surfed at 23.77 metres.
Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa bettered McNamara's mark in 2017, also at Nazare, and German Sebastian Steudtner broke the record again there in 2020, surfing a 26.21m wave.
Reuters