Mike Stewart (born 1963) is a nine-time World Champion Bodyboarder, one of the early pioneers of the bodyboarding sport. This swell in Nazaré - Portugal, in October 13, influenced by tropical storm Leslie, was sending waves in the 20-to-40-foot range. Stewart paddled into his mountains of choice and then got back to the lineup using arm power only with no jetski assist.

"The way I figured things was that if I couldn’t make the paddle out, then I probably shouldn’t try to handle the conditions," explained Stewart.

"This session took me two, or three times longer to paddle out than the previous Nazaré session I had there. It was also discouraging to get pushed back after making progress, and so I almost gave up a couple of times to try from further north up the beach."

Despite the challenging ocean conditions, the Hawaiian bodyboarder, 55, paddled out on his own at Praia do Norte, in Nazaré, and attacked the mighty waves without jet ski support.

Until this point, very few Bodyboarders had charged the infamous wave of Nazaré at this size, the giant beach break is widely searched for by Big Wave surfers for the practice of tow-in (surfing with jetski assist), more recently also by surfers with no jetski assist, Bodyboard in Giant Nazaré is pretty much something very uncommon.

Having ridden bodyboards since the inception of the sport, Stewart is the most experienced bodyboarder currently on the tour and one of the most respected waterman worldwide.

Praia do Norte beach, near the fishing village of Nazaré, has become famous for huge waves since Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a then-record in 2011 for the largest wave ever surfed, when he rode a 78-foot wave.