Michelle des Bouillons already had plenty of reasons to celebrate. A week ago in Newport Beach, California, the Brazilian surfer was named the winner of the Women’s Biggest Wave category at the Big Wave Challenge. It was the second time she’d won the award, after taking the same category in 2024, and the third consecutive year she’d been among the finalists.
But Michelle didn’t leave Newport Beach completely satisfied. The award came for the same wave that she believes should also be recognized as a world record.
On December 13, 2025, Michelle was towed into a massive wave at Nazaré during the WSL’s big-wave event. An independent technical study commissioned by the surfer later measured it at 24.99 meters (82 feet) – more than eight feet above Maya Gabeira’s current women’s record of 22.4 meters (73.5 feet), set at the same Portuguese break in 2020…