This is ultimately a study in bias and how we choose to take pictures of the same things.
Plus, the picture obscures it, but you can see the waves coming for a good distance. You'd expect two drummers to be on beat without much difficulty.
Fun fact, over a year later my dad and I had almost the same experience at the same spot shooting geese in flight. Judging by the angle, we were maybe just shy of a half a second or so appart. Maybe we should look at EXIF data to be sure!
Seems this stuff happens more often then people think.
Waves like this have a clear peak when they stop rising, but before they fall, so there is a natural moment to click the shutter.