Who is Blake Johnston? Australian man who went on record-breaking surfing for more than 30 HOURS

An Australian man set a new world record for the longest surfing session on Friday, March 17. The man named Blake Johnston went surfing at Cronulla beach in south Sydney on a record break time of 30 hours and 11 minutes. He went into the water at 1 am (local time) on Thursday and came back after a record-smashing surfing session on Friday evening. Johnston said that he did this to raise money for mental health. During a short break, Johnston admitted that “everything hurts” and the marathon session was harder than he anticipated.

“I’ve surfed my whole life but never in this realm. Yeah, it’s been a mental and physical challenge, to say the least,” he told Nine’s Today show. Johnston has broken South African Josh Enslin's previous record of 30 hours and will continue surfing off Cronulla's The Alley until Friday evening, bringing his total to 40 hours.

Who is Blake Johnston? What is the purpose of his feat?

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Johnston is a local surf instructor and also a former professional surfer who is performing the gruelling feat to raise money for the Chumpy Pullin Foundation. The charity was set up to honour the memory of professional snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, who died in 2020. Johnston lost his father, Wayne, to suicide a decade ago.

“This is to honour the anniversary of our dad ... for Blake, it’s been like this crazy journey since we lost our dad,” brother Ben said. “This is just something to honour that and he really wants to actively show people that there are tools to deal with mental health.”

Sunburn, dehydration, sharks, and marine stingers are among the dangers of spending 40 hours in the water. The goal was to raise $250,000 for the foundation, and more than $200,000 has already been donated. Earlier this week, the 40-year-old stated that he wanted to inspire the kids he now coaches in surfing and provide them with practical tools and support to help them get through difficult times.

“I’m not nice to myself at times. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be a great husband, father and friend,” he said.
Johnston's goal of surfing more than 500 waves - one every six minutes - has also been met, with more than 533 waves ridden before 9 am (local time) on Friday.

“Yeah, I’m stoked, but I’m cooked. I’ve still got another long eight hours left in the water today. So just dealing with that at the moment. This is way harder than I anticipated,” he said.

Johnston emerged from the sea briefly at lunchtime on Friday for a medical checkup and eye drops, when the world came to know about his feat.

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