Alex Botelho

Their story

Alex Botelho, from Lagos in the Algarve, is part of the Portuguese crew that has made Nazaré's giant days its own. In January 2018 he was the one driving the jet ski when Hugo Vau rode the Big Mama wave.

On 11 February 2020, at the first WSL tow contest, it nearly went very wrong. After his last wave, Vau picked him up on the ski. Two waves met, and the ski, Vau and Botelho were thrown about 6 metres (20 feet) into the air. Botelho landed on the ski's rescue sled, hit his head and punctured a lung, and was pulled from the water unconscious, live on the broadcast. Firefighters on the beach got him breathing again.

He has said since that his injuries came from the jet ski, not the wave, and that Nazaré "saved my life".