Maya is an inspiration to all women, she broke boundaries that no other woman has had to.
In a post on instagram she said “It’s been 20 years of surfing big waves and I’m finally ready to step away from professional surfing and big-wave surfing and find something else,” said the 37-year-old big-wave pioneer. “It has served me a purpose. When I started this life, you know, it was unthinkable that a woman would be competing with men and that a woman would surf the biggest wave of the year.
There are so many women charging these days. I’m very proud and very honoured to have been part of the transformation in this industry, in this sport, and this lifestyle.”
Maya, who was once advised by two very famous surfers not to take on the big waves, has held two Guinness World Records, five Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, and the WSL’s XXL Biggest Wave Award.
In 2013 she suffered a horrendous wipeout at Nazare, where she broke her ankle and was knocked unconscious was dragged from the sea and revived. She then had three spine surgeries and five years of rehab before fully recovering and going back out to charge the infamous peaks.
“I’m stubborn as hell and I never give up which is helpful in big waves. I can wipe out 500 times and will always keep coming back.”
Over the years we’ve done many interviews with the Maya but the first one was the most groundbreaking when she was just 21. In that year, 2009, Maya was on our front cover, with an article “Maya: Destined for Bigger Things”. And so she was. It’s hard to describe now transformative the girl from Rio was back in 2009, at a time when women’s big wave surfing was not considered a possibility like it is nowadays.
A classic Maya quote from back then was, “I’m stubborn as hell and I never give up which is helpful in big waves. I can wipe out 500 times and will always keep coming back.” This is an example of Maya’s determination and strength that she needed to break through the barrier of men’s big wave surfing and make a name for herself as one of the world’s top big wave surfers. She pushed herself to live her dreams and the toll this took was apparent to see in the film ‘Maya and the Wave’, which at times was hard to watch.
Maya, we wish you well for your next chapter.
