Blakey Johnston surfs 4,000 waves in 25 days, a new world record – in pictures

Blakey Johnston has broken a world record by surfing 4,097 waves in 253 sessions, over 25 days, at Urbnsurf Sydney, a wave pool for surfing. Each day was considered to be as physically challenging as running a marathon

Jessica Hromas

Main image: Blakey Johnston, professional coach, mental health advocate and now three-times world record holder after he surfed 4,000 waves in 25 days. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Fri 1 Aug 2025 05.30 CEST

Johnston is no stranger to endurance challenges. A professional surfer since he was 16, he previously broke the world record of longest surfing session by surfing for over 40 hours, catching 707 waves. This most recent challenge, breaking the world record for most waves surfed in a month, would see him take to the water 256 times. This photo was taken 22 days into the challenge on 25 July 2025 – Johnston’s biggest day, in which he caught 232 waves over 14 sessions.