Josie Rozell
Staff Writer
Heralded as France’s First Lady of Surfing, Justine Dupont (30) is the champion of consistently tackling big waves with raw, devoted focus. She began surfing at the age of 11 in Lacanau, a surf-mecca for the southwest of France. When she was 15, she finished a remarkable second place at the World Longboard Championships, establishing a name for herself in the premier surfing world.
Photo by Luís de Sá
In 2013, she surfed a 40-foot monster wave in Belharra, France, becoming the first female athlete to have surfed the XXL swell. After catching the mammoth, she paddled back into the line-up—and whipped into another 40-foot wave.
No surf break has meant the most for Dupont’s career than that of Nazaré, located off a small fishing hamlet in Portugal, which seasonally boasts waves the size of five-story buildings. In November 2019, Dupont charged down a 70-foot wave, staying steady on her board and absorbing the boulder-like bumps with extreme focus. Many were convinced this was the highest recorded wave surfed by a man or woman.
A few weeks after Dupont’s legendary wave, she won first place at the ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championships in El Salvador. She could not be stopped.
Photo by Fred David
In 2020, Dupont won the Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge and the Best Women’s Performance, then, a few weeks later, she swiped one of the best barrels at Pe’ahi in Maui during an XXL swell. In 2021, she won both Nazaré awards again.
Her internationally praised performances in the mammoth waves of Nazaré led to a feature on HBO’s 100-Foot Wave series, one of only three females to be highlighted on the highly acclaimed surfing documentary.
