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Surfing icon Dale Webster, a California native who set the record for most consecutive days surfing, has died.
Webster, also known as the “Daily Wavester” because of the incredible feat, passed away in Rohnert Park, Calif, his family confirmed to the New York Times and other outlets.
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No cause of death was confirmed, but Webster’s brother told the outlet that the surfer had been dealing with a decline in health in recent years.
Guinnes Book of World Records holder Dale Webster arrives at the premiere of the surfing documentary movie “Step Into Liquid” on Santa Monica Pier on July 30, 2003, in Santa Monica, California. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
Webster was best known for setting the world record in February 2004 when he hit 10,407 consecutive days of surfing. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, that mark consisted of him surfing at least three waves to shore every day.
In an interview with SURFER in 2015, Webster told the magazine that the idea for surfing came about from a friend after he had already been on the board every day for more than two months.
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“There was a solid south swell in September, and I surfed every day during the swell,” Webster said at the time. “Each day the waves got better and better. After surfing 85 days straight, my friend said, ‘You should try to surf for 100 consecutive days.’ When I got to 100, the story was in the local newspaper. That publicity gave me a little pat on the back to make it to a year. So then the challenge became a year. And so forth.”
Webster began his journey on Sept. 3, 1975, in Bodega Bay, California. By the time he finished, he had surfed 14,642 days consecutively before having to break the record because of a minor medical procedure. That time totaled over 40 years of consecutive surfing.
Waves pound the rocky coast near the Bodega Head trail at Bodega Bay on Sept. 17, 2011. (IMAGN)
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“He was a surfer, that was his main thing, that was his life ambition. I don’t think he ever second guessed it,” William Beal, a close friend of Webster’s, told the SFGate following the news of his passing. “I know he had a lot of good years here when it was not that crowded. I think he had a pretty well-lived life.”
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