Garrett McNamara

“You know every wave is so different. It just depends on the ride, like when you come down and you don't make the wave and you get blown up and you just feel like so small, but also so alive, because you're at the mercy of this monster and its gotten hold of you and shaking you and rattling you.”

“If you look at the statistics, it's a lot more dangerous to ride down a highway than a big wave.”

“I haven't been afraid in awhile, but whenever I am, I get a rush.”

“I'd become the little surfer in my childhood drawings.”

“The world would be a much better place if everyone was doing what they wanted to do.”

“I don't measure waves; I'm just blessed to be surfing.”

“Now I know that if I surf without expectations and have a map for making my passion my life's plan, I'm always in the present and smiling.”

“It's a matter of facing your fears. Going where you're not comfortable, after you do it so many times, and you have so many heavy, heavy experiences, then all of the sudden it becomes normal.”

“I always say it's not how big the wave is, it's how you ride it.”

“If I have days that don't feel great, I didn't read that morning.”

“My brothers said I was always the craziest, always pushing buttons.”

“I went to Alaska a while back and surfed the waves generated from a glacier calving and ever since then, I've never been afraid in the ocean.”

“It's just the most amazing feeling to be out there in the water riding waves. It's like walking on the water.”

“If you get under water, you're at the mercy of our team coming in and getting us before we get another one on the head, and another one on the head, and another one. Or, we have to be able to handle it, and that's where our trainer and our coaches and our people who help us stay fit come into play, the other part of the team.”

“I've been soulsearching: why do I do this? Because I don't really get the rush on these waves, and I don't surf for records. It's more to do with my love for Nazare - I want to bring attention to the town.”

“I'm hurtling down bumpy, choppy water very close to being out of control, doing everything I can to stay on my board. One misstep and you're going to get squashed by tons of water. To not get hurt, I need to take everything into consideration: strength, nutrition and mind-set.”

“I broke ribs three different times.”

“We didn't have much money and my mom scrounged up $15 and bought us a surf board at a yard sale.”

“Danger is real. But fear is something we create.”

“It never happens in Europe, and I'm not sure how often it happens here in Australia, but in Hawaii and all over the United States nobody knows what a fast lane is.”