Mike Stewart Wipes Out Bodysurfing Teahupoo

Watch nine-time world bodyboarding champion, Mike Stewart, bodysurfing the waves of Teahupoo in Tahiti in October 2018.

The legendary bodyboarder ended up suffering a painful injury.

"I was having a great session until the end of my last wave when good things came to an abrupt halt," explained Stewart.

"As I rode my last wave, I found a new technique that took me faster, out of the barrel and onto the shoulder. I then tucked both arms in, attempting to go faster still, to get out in front of the white water snowball."

"The idea was to better penetrate the wave face and cut out, avoiding the dreaded inside suck over onto the dry reef. It was a miserable fail."

"As I dove into the wave face, I soon felt that inescapable, eerie anxiety of my body getting sucked over backward."

"At first, almost in slow motion, I then quickly accelerated downward into the reef, bouncing hard along the messed up, craggy bottom."

I suffered what must be my worst contusions ever surfing, and only the second time I ever got stitches riding waves. A sore lesson that I don’t plan on repeating."

Full Story:
https://www.surfertoday.com/bodyboard...

Footage by @lh.prod and @timmyhamilton