Former Australian professional surfer Blake Johnston rode his surfing board for over 40 hours breaking the world record for the longest surfing session in history.

Johnston broke the longest recorded surfing session on Friday, moving past the previous mark held by South African Josh Enslin of 30 hours and 11 minutes. He started surfing on Thursday at 1 a.m. local time (3 p.m. CET, March 15).

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
“I think he'll be proud"
Sydney surfer Blake Johnston has set an epic world record by surfing for 30 hours straight in tribute to his dad who he lost ten years ago after a battle with mental health.
🏄‍♂️ You can donate to Blake here – https://t.co/mDPNXej7Gn pic.twitter.com/znPY5TdbXr

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 16, 2023

Hundreds of people and Johnston’s family gathered on the sand of Cronulla Beach in the south of Sydney to greet him as he finished surfing for the day.

Extraordinary. Sydney’s Blake Johnston completes 707 waves in 40-hours to achieve a world record for the longest surf ever. @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/EMnVWwtr59

— David Riccio (@DaveRic1) March 17, 2023

Johnston, who surfed more than 700 waves during his session according to local media, took on the world record to raise money for youth mental health initiatives in collaboration with the Chumpy Pullin Foundation.