Nazaré: Brazilian surfer Marcio Freire died

In the Portuguese town of Nazaré, where waves of up to 30 meters regularly break in winter, a fatal surfing accident occurred for the first time on Thursday. Brazilian Marcio Freire fell while surfing tow-in. The athletes can be pulled into waves on jet skis that are too big to paddle with their own strength. Rescue workers on jet skis quickly brought Freire to shore, but the resuscitation measures there could no longer save the 47-year-old.

The Praia do Norte in front of Nazaré is one of the most famous beaches for surfing big waves. A five kilometer deep underwater canyon in the seabed offshore means that incoming swells are heavily concentrated on this stretch of coast, and waves there are often three times larger than in the surrounding area.

The “Nazaré Canyon” meets the coast in Portugal. It is five kilometers deep and 170 kilometers long. And it causes waves to pile up particularly high.

(Photo: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

This has been attracting more and more surfers who specialize in big waves for about ten years. International competitions are also held there. Sebastian Steudtner from Nuremberg rode a 26.21 meter high wave there in October 2020 and thus holds the world record.

Accidents and life-threatening situations occur time and again when surfing in the giant waves of Nazaré. In the worst case, the water masses push the surfers under water for minutes. Brazilian Maya Gabeira, for example, disappeared for almost five minutes in October 2013, according to her surfing partner Carlos Burle, before he was able to rescue her.

The fact that there have been no fatalities in Nazaré despite these dangers is also due to the safety precautions taken by the surfers. There are usually doctors on the beach, and in addition to the jet skis that pull the surfers into the waves, there are others in the water to quickly rescue them in the event of a fall.

The late Marcio Freire had plenty of big wave experience, having lived in Hawaii for about 20 years and was recognized and well known in the scene. “We lost one of us,” wrote Nick von Rupp, a Portuguese surfer with German roots on Instagram. He saw him “surfing all day with a big grin” on Thursday.

For Nazaré, the conditions are currently rather moderate. The waves are around three to four meters high on Friday, and according to the authorities, “no extremely dangerous” conditions should have prevailed on Thursday.


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