Blakey Johnston Smashes Third World Record, Takes First Hot Shower In 7 Years
4097 waves, 21,000+ whacks and two busted hoofs, courtesy of URBNSURF’s Winter Warriors pass.
At the beginning of July, Blakey Johnston: former Stab intern, endurance athlete, and Cronulla Surf Academy head honcho, set out to break the record for most waves ridden in a month at URBNSURF Sydney.
The bar to beat? 108 sessions, set by last year’s Winter Warrior, Ed Robinson.
Blakey did 256. Blew it out of the water. His beastly stats below (courtesy of Flowstate).
- Waves: 4,097
- Sessions: 256
- Time riding waves: 17 hrs 58 mins 21 sec
- Average session: 10.3 hours
- Bottom Turns: 10,284
- Snaps: 5,154
- Barrels: 674
- Airs: 92 (Blake reckons these must’ve been his body varials)
- Total Turns: 21,658 (the humble bottom turn is included in this)
“I’ve got a 50 cent-sized ulcer on my heel that’s been rubbing against my booties for three weeks,” he croaked, one day post-marathon. “All the healed scar tissue on my feet has reopened. Two weeks in I had an all-consuming ear infection. I averaged 3.5 hours of sleep according to my Whoop watch. Basically everything hurts now. Weird shooting nerve pain. It was pretty brutal,” he concludes with a chuckle.
Still, he still rose the next morning and dutifully completed his 10km trot.
For years, Blakey’s lived by a strict masochistic code: 4am wake-ups. Run. Ocean dip. Cold shower (ever since Wim Hof first came to Aus, Blakey swore never to have another hot one).
“But by the time I finished last night I was so delusional, my mates pushed me into the shower. I was sat down under the sprinkler with Tom Carroll, one of my heroes growing up, in there with me. I’m going, ‘This is weird. This isn’t really how I envisioned hanging out with Tom.’ But here we are,” he laughs.
You’d think warm running water would feel like heaven after seven years. Evidently, it wasn’t enough to keep him there.
“I’ve got hectic OCD with the number seven. I was one of seven kids. I finish my runs and phone calls on seven. I’ve even got it tattooed on me,” he says. “I’d caught 4,096 waves and just knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t go out for one more.”
So he pulled his wettie back on: wet, cold, reeking of Vasso, and paddled out for anothery.
Blakey said his two darkest moments were: 1.) his intrusive thoughts when he was pulled away from the tank to go on a family snowboarding holiday. “A part of me was just hating the fact that I had to leave and the part. The same part that just obsessive and gets these kinds of things done that can help me do pretty crazy things is also something that I’m aware of. So I had to straighten myself out a bit”.
The second was in the midst of his mind-numbing ear infection. “You’re in a hood, head pounding, it’s late at night, doing these mammoth sessions, and you just feel like no one really cares if you get that extra two waves in that session or not.”
To keep warm, Blakey surfed the lefts more which were less crowded. As a goofyfooter, it was a happy alignment of biomechanics and thermoregulation. “It’s the waiting that kills you. If you’re not moving, you’re shivering.”
His wetsuit, which he got brand new from Rip Curl at the start of July, is now in the bin. “We’d washed it a couple times but it had Vasso all through it. The knee was starting to wear from where it touched, and the thing stunk. 253 uses isn’t bad though.” (Which, for context, is about the equivalent of three full Sydney winters’ worth of use crammed into a month.)
Did his surfing improve? He’s delegated that call to Glenn Hall, World-Title-winning coach and longtime friend. The pair trade coaching duties with each other’s kids to avoid being That Dad. Sensible.
“I wanted to improve my forehand wrap. Bringing the tail around tighter, like a Mick Fanning-style hook. So we used a longer twin fin to help get the rail in, focus on body position, and work on flow. For me, the sessions were all about slowing down, keeping my hands low, turning with my head and hips instead of muscling it. My main problem is excitement, often I get too far forward trying to bang out turns, so this was about improving my timing, positioning, and letting the board do the work. The changes were subtle, but Micro and I both noticed it. He said it’s the best I’ve surfed — more effortless, better flow. To most people it wouldn’t look like anything’s changed, but the difference is in that split-second of not rushing.”
Speaking of groms — his son Bobby, 12, clocked 91 sessions and 1,400 waves during the same period. He improved heaps, reckons Blakey.
“He still won’t do the dishes, but when I lead with action, he follows. That was cool to see.”
And the thing he’s most proud of? “I still, made it to all Bobby’s soccer games.”
Get yourself a Winter Warriors pass here.
Comments
Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.
Already a member? Sign In
Want to join? Sign Up