Australian breaks record for longest surfing session

• Author: Tom Housden
• BBC News, Sydney

five hours ago

Image credit: Getty Photos

An Australian man broke the globe record for the longest surfing session – and continued to ride the waves till Friday evening regional time.

Blake Johnston’s record came soon after 30 hours and 11 minutes in the water at Cronulla Beach in southern Sydney.

Describing himself as “fairly considerably cooked,” Johnston told reporters he would continue to “nonetheless have a job to do.”

His marathon surfing raised about $240,000 (£132,000) for charity.

Image credit: Getty Photos

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Johnston is raising cash for the Chumpi Pullin Foundation and mental overall health charities

With floodlights illuminating a section of Cronulla’s surf recognized as “The Alley”, Johnston kept going via the evening and by Friday lunchtime had logged more than 600 waves.

The 40-year-old former specialist surfer and distance runner faces the danger of blindness, infected ears and dehydration, as nicely as sleep deprivation, hypothermia, shark attacks and jellyfish stings.

He came out of the sea briefly on Friday lunchtime for a healthcare examination and eye drops.

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“I was surfing at two in the morning with him and the lights basically went out so it was pitch black,” his brother Ben told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“There was a complete bunch of jellyfish in there, so it was intriguing to say the least.”

Speaking ahead of his challenge, Johnston stated: “I believed, I could do it. I can run 40 hours,”

“But this way I can surf with folks, bring a neighborhood and make a distinction for the future.”

Johnston is raising funds for the Chumpi Pullin Foundation, set up in memory of Australian Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpi’ Pullin who drowned off the Gold Coast though spearfishing in 2020.

He also supports mental overall health charities, partly as a tribute to his father who took his personal life a decade ago.