Sport

Sebastian Steudtner, a 32 year old from Nürnberg in Germany, is a professional big wave surfer. Yes it’s a real job! Although we reckon life insurance quotes are probably a touch on the high side across the whole profession. If you’re any self respecting big wave surfer then there’s only one place you want to be come January, Nazaré, Portugal.

The small Portuguese town on the Atlantic coast is a Mecca for big wave surfers from around the world. This year was no different as Sebastian Steudtner was joined by fellow big surf glitterati: Axi Munian, Maya Gabeira, Benjamin Sanchis, Ross Clarke Jones, Hugo Vau and Eric Rebiere all came to town for a slice of the action.

Nazare Portugal Waves

Nazaré, has witnessed some amazing big surf achievements in the past few years. In 2011, US surfer Garrett McNamara was credited with riding the biggest wave ever at 24 metres. Two years later (see below) he returned and broke his own record by tracking and taming a 30 metre wave.

However both of those records appear to have been shattered as Steudtner looks to have broken a 35 metre monster wave.

Steudtner is no stranger to danger and has already claimed the scalps of some of the world’s biggest waves which includes Jaws/Peʻahi on the North coast of Maui and Teahupo’o in Tahiti.

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Both Steudtner and McNamara use a technique known as tow-in-surfing, a relatively recent advance, tow-in-surfing allows surfers to catch faster and more powerful waves. The tow-in method was conceived for the sole purpose of surfers being able to attempt waves of 30 feet or more. Traditionally a surfer would hand-paddle into position but this conventional approach limits the size and speed of waves that can be tackled . The tow-in technique was developed in the 1990’s using Jet-ski’s to tow the surfer into a breaking wave. Further refinement has allowed the use of helicopters with a tow line. Whilst a helicopter doesn’t come cheap it does have the advantage of making it easier to spot big waves.

No waves, no glory.

Ok, the clip above is not football. But this story reminds us so much of the ‘Rugby Match’ sketch, from Monty Pythons Meaning of Life, that we just had to sneak in a reference somewhere.

You would think the object to a football game would be to win by as many goals as possible, but that isn’t the case at Spanish football team CD Serranos.

The Serranos U-11’s youth side won recently against rivals Benicalap with a whopping score of 25-0. Instead of praising the coach, he was sacked by the club’s board with the score line being dubbed “humiliating.”

Pablo Alcaide of CD Serranos told El Pais, “We encourage respect for our rivals, and after the fallout over the result, we felt the coach should step down.”

He added, “He didn’t manage the situation well.”

The coach’s lawyer has defended his client, claiming that it is difficult to tell a team of 10 and 11 year olds not to score when they have the opportunity. Lawyer Daniel Revenga said, “At no point did he encourage his players to increase the score. On the contrary, he told them to stop pressuring their opponents. But Benicalap C, who had no substitutes, continued attacking and left too many spaces.”

A youth team spokesperson from Barcelona also agrees that you cannot tell players not to score, but you should change it up after a while, stating, “Competing is part of training. We shouldn’t send out the wrong message. You can’t tell players not to score. But we tend to move players to new positions so that the result isn’t too mismatched.”

Spain is currently discouraging such defeats in youth football around the country, but it has the bigger clubs divided. Barcelona along with Betis, Real Sociedad, and Athletic Bilbao agree that after a 10-goal difference, the club should switch to play defensively, but Espanyol disagrees.

Espanyol’s Jordi Lardin thinks that becoming defensive is equally as wrong, saying, “It is just as disrespectful to win by 25-0 as it is to just keep control of the ball and then kick it out of play.”

The latest defeat for Benicalap draws the curtain on a rocky campaign for the club. Benicalap completed the season in last place and conceded an incredible 247 goals in 30 games. Are you sure they sacked the right coach?