On February 7, 2019, Sebastian Steudtner rode one of the biggest waves of the winter season at Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal.
The feat was nominated for the "Men's XXL Biggest Wave" award by the World Surf League (WSL).
The big wave surfer from Nuremberg, Germany, has been chasing the Portuguese liquid mountains for several years and should always be considered a potential world record breaker.
The wave in question is huge. There's no doubt about that. But could it be the biggest wave ever ridden on the planet?
According to the surfer, it might be. Steudtner revealed that a professor from the Institut für Festkörperphysik (Institute of Solid State Physics) sent him a scientific analysis that measures his wave at 95 feet.
Sebastian says that the researcher used official WSL measuring criteria to determine the size of the wave, i.e., he set a crouching height of five feet and then calculated the height of the wave's face.
As with any similar situation, the speculation feeds any argument for and against the German's world record claim.
The XXL wave of Nazaré is home to three Guinness World Records: the largest wave ever surfed (Rodrigo Koxa, 80 feet), the biggest wave ever ridden by a female athlete (Maya Gabeira, 68 feet) and the largest wave ever kitesurfed (Nuno "Stru" Figueiredo, 62 feet).
Interestingly, it was Gabeira who towed Sebastian Steudtner into this beast. The German has already won two WSL Big Wave Awards in 2010 and 2015.