Surf rage recently reared its ugly head in Bali when California surfer Sara Taylor was attacked by a man while catching a wave.
Sara was surfing when another surfer, Adriano Portela, dropped in on her.
A brief clash occurred before Portela backed off, but as Sara paddled back out, João Paulo (JP) Azevedo, a friend of Portela, confronted her and viciously punched her in the head.
The altercation continued on the beach, where Azevedo also attacked Sara's friend and filmer, Charlie.
In a post, Sara recounted the incident: "After being dropped in on, on my first wave, the guy's friend punched me in the head, and then after being confronted about hitting me, he attacked Charlie on the beach for filming him."
The shocking footage quickly went viral, with surfers from all over the world coming to Sara's defense in comment sections and expressing their anger.
Felicity Palmateer commented, "This is so disgusting and actually terrifying. I hope you're alright. Get these guys deported ASAP!"
Kelly Slater weighed in, too, urging his friends in Bali to expose the offenders.
Filipe Toledo added, "I'm sorry that happened to you guys! Hope you guys are ok! Don't stress with people with this kind of energy! They don't last long. Life will come back to them! But hey, if we can do whatever it is to find them, we will!"
Johnny Boy Gomes also expressed his thoughts, inviting the attackers to Hawaii and offering to pay for half of their tickets.
Sponsorship Dropped
Internet sleuths helped identify the attacker as JP Azevedo.
Quebra Onda, Azevedo's sponsor, dropped him from their roster and condemned violence, particularly against women.
They announced on Instagram, "As this type of behavior is unacceptable, we inform you that we have taken the immediate decision to end our partnership with the athlete JP Azevedo."
Surprisingly, the punches weren't thrown by Portela, who had initially dropped in on Sara.
Instead, Azevedo took it upon himself to paddle over, say a few angry words, and then punch her.
"I saw a surfer push my friend, and I went to ask him why he did that," JP Azevedo stated in a video published a few hours later.
"When I was hit in the face and fought back. Then I saw that he was not a man but a woman."
"That girl looked like a man. I didn't know she was a woman. She surfed like a man, dressed like a man."
"She was riding everyone's wave; she wasn't respecting anyone. She rode my friend's wave and pushed my friend off the wave."
"At the same time, I went to apologize and redeem myself. I got out of the water sad."
"Then came her and her friend to attack me. They threw me to the ground and took my board from the car."
"I went to try to rescue my board, defending myself from the attacks."
"Between one attack and another, I passed and ended up attacking too. This without wanting to justify my mistake."
"Finally, I want to apologize to everyone involved. I'm very sorry for all of this. I really messed up."
"I want to apologize to the surfing world, the local community, and family and friends."
Reports suggest that Azevedo, a surfer from Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, has a history of violence, including assaulting his girlfriend and setting her dog on fire back in Brazil.
Portela later apologized for his behavior in a lengthy Instagram post but clarified he had not hit anyone.
He admitted to speaking and acting with anger and disrespect and feeling deeply ashamed for his actions.
In light of the incident, people everywhere are encouraged to speak up and take action against such behavior to ensure a safe environment for all surfers.