Portugal: the legendary Brazilian surfer Marcio Freire kills himself on the spot of Nazaré

The sea conditions were not particularly dangerous on Thursday, but a tragedy nevertheless occurred on the Praia do Norte, in the Portuguese village of Nazaré.

A legendary Brazilian surfer, Marcio Freire, has died, becoming the first victim of this famous spot and prompting condolences from other big wave professionals.

“A 47-year-old man, of Brazilian nationality, died this afternoon after falling while practicing towed surfing in Praia do Norte,” the National Maritime Authority said in a statement.

“The rescuers found that the victim was in cardio-respiratory arrest, immediately starting resuscitation maneuvers on the sand (…).

After several attempts, it was not possible to reverse the situation,” she said.

According to local sources interviewed by AFP, the victim is Marcio Freire, one of the veterans of XXL surfing who lived for twenty years in the American archipelago of Hawaii, Mecca of international surfing.

Several professionals from around the world, also present in Nazaré on Thursday, paid tribute to Freire.

“Today we lost one of our own,” big wave surfing expert Nic von Rupp wrote on Instagram.

“I've always had a lot of respect for Marcio.

(…) Today I saw him surfing all day in Nazaré with a huge smile.

It is with this huge smile that I will remember him.

"More than an idol", a "true hero"

Also on Instagram and from Nazaré, surfer Thiago Jacare, a compatriot of Freire, paid tribute to his friend who, according to him, was "more than an idol" and a "true hero".

The controversial technique of towed surfing consists in allowing the practitioner to access particularly large waves, which surfers cannot usually approach by rowing by hand, by means of a motorized machine (jet-ski or helicopter) which walks away after throwing the surfer onto the wave.

Every winter, the Praia do Norte is taken over by many surfers.

This beach offers exceptional conditions for surfing giant waves due to the geological phenomenon known as the "canyon of Nazaré": a fault at the bottom of the sea 170 km long and 5 km deep in which the swell of the Atlantic Ocean rushes in before being propelled towards the surface when it reaches the coast.

This is where German Sebastian Steudtner set the world record for the biggest wave ever surfed, for an 86ft (26.2m) breaking wave, ridden on October 29, 2020. Several accidents have taken place there since American Garett McNamara introduced it to the giant wave surfer community in the early 2010s, but none had been fatal until Thursday.