Courtesy of Surfline, Mavericks, California.

Whether it is freedivers going deep below the ocean’s surface, ice swimmers plunging into below freezing water temperatures, marathon swimmers swimming for days, or surfers gliding down mountainous waves, the ocean offers all kinds of extreme conditions in which athletes can push themselves.

The Mavericks Challenge, a Big Wave World Tour event in Mavericks in northern California, is one such event. The Big Wave Tour commissioner Mike Parsons, in consultation with other World Surfing League experts, has announced its revised schedule due to extremely large ocean swells that are estimated to come in between 40 to 60 feet tall with a few occasional 65+ feet waves.

Surfer’s representative Jamie Mitchell explained the expected conditions, “The conditions and the lump from the night before is gonna make it tough — the ocean is not going to be sustainable for 60- to 70-foot surf. If it was coming in with groomed conditions, then for sure we’d want to do it.

It’s not the size it’s the conditions, which is same thing that happened at Jaws, when we had to call that off. Ultimately, we wanna see a contest that’s run with lots of waves being ridden. So surfers win, it’s not a survival deal.”

Copyright © 2008-2018 by World Open Water Swimming Association