Maya Reis Gabeira is a Brazilian big wave surfer. She is most known for having surfed a 68 ft high wave in Nazare, Portugal in January 2018, recorded by Guinness World Records as the biggest wave ever surfed by a female surfer. Gabeira has received numerous accolades including the ESPY award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete and is considered one of the best female surfers in the world as well as one of most influential female surfers of all time.
Career
Maya started surfing at age 14 in Rio de Janeiro and started competing at 15 years old. In 2004 she decided to become a professional at 17 while living in Australia and moved to Hawaii that same year to surf world class waves. She quickly emerged as the world's top female big-wave surfer, winning global championships surfing challenging spots like Mavericks, Waimea, Todos Santos, and South Africa's shark-infested "Dungeons". She has won the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards for four consecutive times in the Best Female Performance category In 2008, she became the first woman to surf the Alaskan Sea. Gabeira also became the first woman to surf California's Ghost Trees and Tahiti's Teahupoo. In 2009, Gabeira won the ESPY award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete. Later that year, Gabeira surfed the biggest wave ever by a female when she successfully rode a wave at Dungeons, a big-wave surf spot in South Africa. In 2010, she got the 2010 Teen Choice Award for Best Female Action Sports Star. In 2012, she was awarded the XXL Big Wave Awards for Girls Best Overall Performance for the 5th time. She also appeared in the ESPN The Body Issue that same year. On October 28, 2013, Gabeira lost consciousness and nearly drowned while surfing a massive wave at Praia do Norte, Nazareé, Portugal; she was saved by her fellow Brazilian big-wave surfer :pt:Carlos Burle|Carlos Burle. She had to be revived on the beach and later ended up in the hospital. In 2016 the documentary Return to Nazaré by Red Bull TV shows how Maya Gabeira returns to Nazaré after having suffered the terrible accident surfing on the same beach in 2013. It is the portrait of a struggle to overcome obstacles, both physical and mental. In January 2018 Gabeira surfed a 68 ft high wave in Nazare, PT, recorded by Guinness World Records as the biggest wave surfed by a female surfer. Gabeira has been nominated twice for the Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year in 2014 and in 2019. She is one of the highest paid female big wave surfers on the planet. Gabeira is sponsored by Billabong and Red bull and currently lives in North Shore in Hawaii in the United States.
Personal life
Gabeira is the daughter of Fernando Gabeira, one of the founding members of the Green Party of Brazil. Her father is the son of Lebanese immigrants and is a former member of a guerrilla group responsible for the kidnapping of the US Ambassador in Brazil, Charles Elbrick, in 1969. He later wrote an award-winning book about the incident which was turned into the Academy Award nominated film Four Daysin September. Her mother, Yamê Reis, is a famous Brazilian fashion designer. From 2010 to 2013, the Brazilian was in a relationship with Australian actor Jesse Spencer.
