A former Australian professional surfer has broken the world record for the longest-recorded surfing session in Sydney on Friday after he clocked more than 40 hours.
Blake Johnston started surfing at Cronulla Beach south of Sydney at 1am on Thursday and carried on until 7.11am on Friday.
Hundreds lined up to see him and cheered as he moved past the previous record of 30 hours and 11 minutes held by South Africa’s Josh Enslin.
Mr Johnston said he was “pretty cooked” when he briefly returned to the beach to answer questions from the media.
“Thanks everyone, you’re the best,” he said, before going back into the ocean.
“I still have a job to do. I will go and give it a crack.
“Everyone deserves to feel awesome, deserves to take care of yourselves. Good on you.”
He continued to surf till 5pm on Friday, creating a new world record.
His team said he fought through risks like blindness, infected ears, dehydration, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, shark attacks and drowning during his record-breaking surf session, reported 9News.
Spotlights were used at night to help guide Mr Johnston and medics on the beach were monitoring his health.
Mr Johnston surfed more than 600 waves during his session, wanted raise money for youth mental health initiatives in collaboration with the Chumpy Pullin Foundation.
According to the BBC, he raised about £185,000 for the charity.
The charity was set up in memory of world-champion snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, who died after drowning on the Gold Coast three years ago, at the age of 32.
His wife, Ellidy was among the group of people gathered to support Mr Johnston through the cause.
“I just know that Chumpy is out there and he would be right beside Blakey cheering him on, and both of them have that Viking energy about them,” she was quoted as saying by ABC News.
Mr Johnston’s wife Lauren also cheered him, saying she knew “he was always going to get the goal that he set”.
Additional reporting by agencies
