Aussie surfer sets record for longest surf session today in Sydney

Australian former professional surfer Blake Johnston broke the record for the world’s longest surf session on Cronulla Beach in Sydney on Friday, March 17.

Surfing coach Blake Johnston, 40, smashed the previous world record of 30 hours and 11 minutes early Friday morning, but rather than drying out, he went straight back into the water for 10 more hours.

The former pro surfer is trying to raise 400,000 Australian dollars (€251,000) for youth mental health, 10 years after his father, Wayne Johnston took his own life.

Blake´s wife Lauren and two boys were there to cheer him on as well as a crowd and the media.

Blake’s brother, Ben Johnston, co-founder of the Chumpy Pullin Foundation, a partner in the world record, commended his sibling’s effort to draw attention to mental health issues.

“We’re just so immensely proud of what he’s done and what he’s setting out to achieve. This is all about honoring the legacy of our amazing dad,” he told CNN Affiliate Sky News.

Crowds gathered on Cronulla beach in southern Sydney throughout the mammoth surfing session that started at 1 a.m. on Thursday where floodlights lit up the beach and ocean, and was due to end at 5 p.m. Friday, local time. Australian time is currently 10 hours ahead of Spanish time.

After breaking the 30-hour record, Blake Johnston told CNN Affiliate Nine News he was “cooked,” Australian slang meaning he was exhausted.

By early Friday, Johnston had ridden around 550 waves, and more were to come as supporters stood on the beach and cheered him on during a hot and sunny day in Sydney.

“He’s a big part of the Cronulla community and he’s got so many people around him, I think he’s probably running on adrenaline,” said Ben Johnston.

Under the rules of the record-breaking effort, paramedics were on standby and every hour the former pro surfer could come to shore – if he wished – to eat and drink.

Blindness, infected ears, dehydration, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, sharks, drowning, and big ideas are all possible challenges that lie ahead in the unknown of surfing for the world record,” Johnston´s fundraising website states.

A shark mitigation plan had been put in place, Ben Johnston told Sky News, though he said jellyfish had already posed problems.

Johnston said he and others had joined Blake for a surf on Thursday night and they were all stung by jellyfish, but that’s “part and parcel” of surfing, he added.

Money raised will support initiatives to help young people with mental health issues, through the Chumpy Pullin Foundation.

Chumpy Pullin was a two-time world champion Australian snowboarder who died while spearfishing in July 2020. He competed in three Olympics and held the flag for Australia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

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