Former pro’s 40 hours on the water breaks record for world’s longest surf in Australia

SYDNEY –

A former Australian professional surfer broke the world record for the longest recorded surfing session in Sydney on Friday.

Blake Johnston took to the water at Cronulla Beach in Sydney’s south at 1 a.m. on Thursday and moved past the previous mark held by South African Josh Enslin 30 hours and 11 minutes later.

The Australian plans to surf until Friday evening, extending the new record to over 40 hours on the water.

Johnston said he was “pretty cooked” when he briefly returned to the beach to answer questions from the media after breaking the record, hundreds of spectators cheering his achievement.

“Thanks everyone, you’re the best,” he said, before going back into the ocean.

“Everyone deserves to feel awesome, deserves to take care of yourselves. Good on you.”

Spotlights were used at night to help guide Johnston in the surf and medics monitored his health on the beach.

Johnston, who surfed more than 600 waves during his session, took on the world record to raise money for youth mental health initiatives in collaboration with the Chumpy Pullin Foundation.

(Reporting by James Redmayne in SydneyEditing by Alasdair Pal, Editing by Peter Rutherford)