Age and practical experience are usually the very best defence against rough waves. But these young surfers are proving that you can soar to the top rated no matter whether you are in your early 20s or even 15 years old.
Joao Chianca, Erin Brooks and Vahine Fierro are amongst the talented youngsters producing a statement on the international surfing circuit this season. Skilled, ambitious and fearless against the largest waves, they will certainly be ones to watch heading to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and beyond.
Nonetheless have doubts? Tune into the 2023 ISA Globe Surfing Games, which Olympics.com is streaming reside from Surf City El Salvador from 30 Might to 7 June, and watch them go head-to-head with Olympic medallists and planet champions.
Joao Chianca: New Brazilian on the block
As several young athletes know, it is really hard to come out of the shadow of your older teammates.
That is specifically accurate if your teammates occur to be on the Brazilian men’s surfing group. And then the very best way to do it is to go straight to the top rated of the planet rankings, which is specifically what 22-year-old Joao Chianca did in his second season on the Globe Championship Tour.
Initially introduced as the tiny brother of significant wave surfer Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca, Joao Chianca has swiftly created a name of his personal and emerged as 1 of Brazil’s top rated prospects for Paris 2024.
Chianca created his debut on the Globe Championship Tour in 2022 exactly where he went mainly beneath the radar with a streak of 5 17th location finishes.
But every thing changed in 2023. Chianca announced his presence with a third-location finish on the very first leg of the tour, even though a victory at the Portugal Pro in March against Australia’s Jack Robinson and two further third areas helped to solidify his lead in the rankings.
The planet No.1 has however to dip beneath a Leading ten finish this season, but possibly what is even additional satisfying are all the victories he has recorded in head-to-head battles with the sport’s largest stars such as Kelly Slater, Kanoa Igarashi and Rio Weida, as properly as teammate and Olympic gold medallist Italo Ferreira.
What’s subsequent for Chianca? A planet title would not be out of the query.
Erin Brooks: Higher-flying teenager Olympic champions are speaking about
Even if you are not an specialist in how the scoring program performs in surfing, you can not assistance but be impressed with the expertise Canada’s Erin Brooks shows on a board.
The 15-year-old became a viral sensation in 2022 as the very first female to do a front and back flip on a surfboard.
And she’s not only superior in the air.
Brooks created additional history at the 2022 ISA Globe Junior Championships in El Salvador when she won the Girls U-16 division – Canada’s very first junior medal in the sport.
What tends to make her achievement specifically specific is that Brooks grew up in Texas and very first stood on a surfboard when she was nine, soon after her family members moved to Maui.
Inspired by her very first surfing lessons, Brooks entered several competitions in Hawaii – and lost in the very first round of each and every 1. Far from getting discouraged, the teen began education even tougher, paddling out on her board at dawn prior to college and repeating the course of action soon after lessons.
That tenacity and all-natural talent currently has veteran surfers speaking. Olympic champion Italo Ferreira sends Brooks encouraging messages even though Carissa Moore, an Olympic and 5-time planet champion, has complimented Brooks for blazing a trail in women’s aerial surfing, saying, “Erin is performing airs I cannot even wrap my head around”.
Vahine Fierro: House surf benefit
Even though the surfing planet is seeking to the infamously big swells in Teahupo’o, Tahiti with understandable trepidation, 23-year-old Vahine Fierro is hoping these waves are as challenging as they get when the Olympic competitors requires location on the island subsequent summer time.
Battling the waves in Tahiti is an each day job for the island native who began surfing when she was two.
By the time she was 5, Fierro had onlookers speaking and encouraging her to take component in competitions. She hesitated to adhere to that guidance at very first, preferring to see surfing as a pastime and enjoying the time in the water with her younger sisters, 19-year-old Heimiti and 16-year-old Kohai.
When Fierro did take the leap into competitive surfing, at age 14, it turned out to be a all-natural match. She swiftly created a competitive drive that pushed her from an unexpected junior title in 2018 all the way to the Globe Championship Tour.
Obtaining surfed all more than the planet, it is in the waters of Tahiti exactly where Fierro excels the most. She very first attempted the significant wave at age 15 and has recorded some of her largest victories there. In August 2022, she entered the Tahiti Pro stage of the Globe Championship Tour as a wildcard and beat Olympic champion Moore in the quarterfinals to finish third all round.
With her neighborhood understanding of Tahiti’s waves and plucky attitude, Fierro will be a surfer the world’s very best are watching on the road to Paris 2024.
