Kriti Mehrotra
With HBO’s ‘100 Foot Wave’ living up to its title in every way imaginable, we get a true insight into the world of surfing through the eyes of those who’ve actually been an active part of it for years. Amongst them are thus French nationals, athletes, as well as partners Justine Dupont and Fred David, so yes, their real-life experiences are carefully chronicled within this documentary series. Hence, it comes as no surprise devoted fans are now curious to learn more about their private relationship — and if you’re here for the same, don’t worry, we’ve got the necessary details for you.
Justine Dupont and Fred David’s Journey
It was reportedly in the 2010s when Justine Dupont first came across Fred David while she was merely starting to get into riding big waves, just for their acquaintanceship to soon evolve into much more. The truth is while she was already a low-level pro by this point, he was a dedicated lifeguard, a passionate bodysurfer, and an outdoor adventurer, making it clear they had a lot of commonalities. Though the former was only hoping to share the tides with someone, unaware that fate had different plans as love happened during his evolvement into her jet ski driver and team member for safety.
However, once Justine and Fred really began pursuing their connection, they realized they could achieve wonders together since not just their passions but their values/ideologies aligned too. That’s when they both agreed they were going to put aside friends, family, as well as everything else to focus on a single goal — traveling hand in hand while helping her be the best on the waters. In fact, the latter has since admittedly prioritized one thing alone, being the towing driver his girlfriend needs to catch the biggest, most impressive waves both in and out of mere practice sessions.
As for Justine, she wholeheartedly believes her career trajectory has been much more significant in recent years due solely to her hard work combined with Fred’s determination to keep her on top. In fact, she once candidly said, “I have complete confidence with my team, and my boyfriend Fred, who rides the ski and is my regular tow-in buddy for big wave surfing. He’s a very good surfer too, and I trust the choices he makes about which wave to put me on, and I trust myself to then catch the wave correctly and to take the right line. Trust is very, very important in big wave surfing!”
Moreover, even the French aqua-shot, world bodysurfer champion, as well as safety instructor who loves to be amid the waves rather than riding on top of it, never misses a chance to boast about his partner. “She is just killing it every time she’s in the water,” Fred proudly stated in season 2. “She is smiling all the time, she is humble, she can be natural, and she’s trying to do better every day.” As if that’s not enough, per her own accounts, she often has to reveal her aspirations to her love rather gradually because he is so set on making all her dreams come true he pushes both of them to no extent for it.
Justine Dupont and Fred David Are Stronger Than Ever Today
Yes, of course, Justine and Fred are still blissfully involved with one another — in fact, from what we can tell through their online presence, they have been living together in Portugal for a while now. The couple does seemingly regularly travel to their homeland to spend time with their loved ones while immersing themselves in their culture, yet the surf town of Nazaré in the Oeste region is currently their primary base. They use their respective social media platforms to give their fans routine updates on their lives, which make it perfectly evident just how deep in love, along with water obsessed, the duo is.
“I have the extreme good fortune to experience all this with my partner Fred,” Justine said in an interview back in 2020 while referring to her success, and it seems like nothing has changed. “I couldn’t do it without him by my side, and he gives me complete confidence in my decisions. We know each other so well that we don’t even need to speak when we’re in the water.” The athletic lifeguard is thus essentially her rock in every sense of the term, and she’s the same for him — a fact he has inadvertently made clear on his website itself.
Read More: Antonio “Tony” Laureano: Where is the Big Wave Surfer Now?
