“Surfer Alex Botelho's clinical situation has improved in the last 24 hours. He remains hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit of Hospital da Leiria, but is breathing without the aid of a ventilator, ”said an organisation source to Lusa news agency.

Alex Botelho suffered an accident during the race, having been knocked unconscious, in Praia do Norte, after the jet ski, in which he was also accompanied by Portuguese Hugo Vau, was hit by a wave that left the surfer unconscious for about two minutes, when he was rescued from the sea.