French big wave surfer Justine Dupont rides a wave in Praia do Norte, Nazare, Portugal February 18, 2025. REUTERS/Pedro Rocha
(Reuters) - France's Justine Dupont overcame tough conditions and waves of up to 35 feet to win the Tudor Nazare Big Wave Challenge on Tuesday, with countryman Clement Roseyro taking the men's division and the team performance with partner Nic Von Rupp.
Held at Europe's premier big wave spot of Praia do Norte in Portugal's Nazare, the World Surf League speciality event sees surfers towed into giant swells by their partners riding jet skis.
Dupont, who won the 2021 event, was back competing after the birth of her first child and showed her mastery of the windy, challenging conditions in front of a big crowd lining the cliffs.
"I used to have a lot of fear before. Now, after the baby, I’m more worried about my child, whether they are sleeping or eating. At least it takes my mind off the fear!" Dupont said.
“It was a bit like riding a rodeo out there, really bumpy conditions."
Roseyro paid credit to his tow partner Von Rupp, who put the smooth and stylish Frenchman into some of the biggest and best waves, helping him to the win over Brazil's Lucas Chianca and Scotland's Ben Larg.
“Last year we should have won, so this year we came back, training really hard," Von Rupp said. "It’s been a long season, we’ve put in the time here. We’re stoked Clement, got two good scores today to get on top of the leaderboard.”
The waves at Nazare are super-charged by a canyon up to 5,000m (16,000ft) deep that ends off the coast, funnelling huge winter swells from the Atlantic Ocean into enormous and often unpredictable peaks that break north of the old fishing town.
German Sebastian Steudtner surfed a wave measured at 86 feet in Nazare in 2020, according to Guinness World Records.
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; Editing by Ken Ferris)
