Wetsuits, tents, thermoses, and killer whales: How Canada's Olin sisters thrive in frigid North Pacific waters
Flipflops, bikinis, sunscreen, and sunglasses are some of the items typically found on a packing list for a surfing trip.
Unless you are Sanoa and Mathea Olin. And then the list includes extra-warm sleeping bags, wind-resistant tents, firestarters, thermos mugs, firewood, and wetsuits.
The adventurous sisters hail from Canada’s surfing capital Tofino, a small town on the coast of the North Pacific where water temperatures in the winter typically hover between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius.
"When you first think of surfing, you definitely think of more tropical locations and sunshine and palm trees and blue water. But my favourite aspect of surfing is the adventure that it brings you on," said Sanoa Olin, who is set to become Canada's first Olympic surfer after securing a quota through the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
One person who is always ready to bear the frosty discomforts and join Sanoa Olin on these adventures is older sister Mathea, a 2019 Pan American Games bronze medallist.
"You got to put on all your rubber and paddle out and surf and then normally you come in absolutely freezing cold in the winter, like you can't even use your hands or anything. Can't even start your vehicle," Mathea said about surfing in home waters. "And even though you can go and do whatever for the rest of the day, you end up taking all day to fully warm up, so it definitely can be a struggle, but you also get to surf very uncrowded waves."
Olympics.com spoke to the Canadian siblings leading the surfing charge from the north about their pre-surf routines, winter camping trips, and the even colder waves they want to tackle next.
Surfing Tofino: Adapting a tropical sport to Canada's chilly climes
Getting up for school, especially in the cold and dark winter mornings, is a thing every child around the world anticipates with equal dread. Now imagine if that morning routine also includes jumping into the North Pacific to catch some waves.
Growing up, the Olin sisters did just that.
"Once you get hooked on surfing, it's something you want to do every day," said Mathea, who is two years senior. "We grew up in Tofino so me and my sister would go every day, no matter what the conditions were, if it was cold or snowing or raining. But once you get used to the cold, you just get used to being cold all the time and it's not the end of the world."
Preparation is key when going surfing in the cold, she added. That means factoring in extra time to put on wetsuits and thoroughly warming up on shore.
Even then, hands and feet soon go numb after surfers enter the water.
"Your feet start getting cold first. That's definitely the hard one because it's pretty hard to surf when your feet are like ice blocks and you can't really feel your board," Sanoa said. "It's definitely a lot less motivating to surf at home. I love where I live and I love the cold water and the adventures that surfing brings with it, but you definitely have to be super motivated and really want it."
While the Olins can be seen surfing the waves no matter the weather, they are not the general rule when it comes to winter sports culture in Tofino. The town's beaches are not typically packed with surfing enthusiasts in cold-resistant wetsuits.
Even the sisters' younger brother avoids going near surfboards in the wintertime.
"As a kid, it's harder," Sanoa explained. "He loves surfing in the summer, but as soon as the winter season comes along, he won't go anywhere near the water with me. As a child, I definitely did find it harder to go in the water too, but I just became so in love with surfing that it didn't really matter. I wanted to surf no matter where I was."
One wave - and a pod of killer whales - to make it all worth it
Tofino is known for its beach breaks, which get bigger in the winter months. The more ambitious surfers also go on road trips or take boats to reach the various surf meccas in the area. Once there, they usually set up camp for a few days and wait until the waves are at their best.
Mathea and Sanoa Olin have made countless camping trips to these point breaks, including in the winter months.
With no shower and permanently damp gear, this is where their thermos bottles and sleeping bags come in especially handy.
"We do it all year, but in the winter it's definitely a lot harder," Mathea said. "You're camping in the rain and then every time you're surfing, you're putting on a soaking wet wetsuit and it's freezing cold and that's definitely the time when you're just grateful to get home after. In the summer, it's super nice. Your wetsuit will dry and you're camping in the sun and it's all good times. You have long days. But we've had some camping trips in the winter where we're just sitting by a fire and it's really cold days and the waves are terrible."
In the end, however, all it takes is one wave to keep the sisters coming back and setting up their tents again and again.
"All your rain gear is soaked to the bone. You have two sets of rain gear, none of it's dry, and you're like, 'Why did we come?' but it's all worth it in the end because those camping trips when you go there and you spend two days in the rain, sitting, just hoping for waves, and then you get one insane wave, it all pays off," Mathea said.
The sisters also find their surfing trips the perfect way to connect to British Columbia's stunning natural surroundings - and meet some of its wildlife.
"We were on a camping trip off the coast and a pod of orca killer whales came into our line up," Sanoa said of finding herself 10 feet from a male orca. "It's not an animal that you want to be anywhere near to in the water, but after I got to the beach and avoided them, that was a moment that's pretty special because they're such beautiful animals."
"When you're out there and you're pretty much off grid for a week, there's no better feeling," Mathea agreed. "You are living in the moment, and you get to go and have some of the best surfs of your life and then be surrounded by the most beautiful old growth forests, and mountains and rivers, and you really get to enjoy how beautiful the world is."
Sanoa Olin - Canada's first Olympic surfer
Sanoa Olin's next surfing companions will not be orca whales but Olympic contestants. The 18-year-old secured an Olympic quota* by taking a silver medal at Santiago 2023 behind Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb, who had already obtained a quota through the WSL Championship Tour.
Olin is set to become the first Olympic surfer from Canada when the competition begins in Tahiti on 27 July - a milestone for the country, and even more so for her cold water surfing community in Tofino.
**"**It means a lot for me and the small group of surfers that came before me and for all my role models and the people who supported me," Sanoa said. "I have so much love for where I've grown up and for the surfing community that I've grown up with."
The feeling is mutual. When Sanoa returned home from Chile, she was surprised with an Olympic-sized welcome party.
"My mom and her friends and a bunch of the community, they had the firetrucks and police officers and the whole community waiting for me at the info centre," Sanoa recalled. "I had no idea and it was a surprise. That was definitely a moment that I was overwhelmed with gratitude and I just felt so much love for the people in my life because it's a pretty crazy moment when you feel that much support and love from the people that you've grown up with."
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
Sanoa Olin secured a provisional quota for Paris 2024 by finishing second at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
A northern welcome from Sanoa and Mathea Olin
As in most other surfing competitions, Sanoa's rivals at Paris 2024 will come from countries with warmer and more surfer-friendly waters.
Having visited some of these places for competitions, the Olin sisters say they are happy to return the favour and host fellow surfers who are searching for less crowded, albeit colder waves.
Already there is plenty of interest to take up their invitation.
"There's definitely a lot of people who want to come to Tofino. It's definitely a hot spot," Sanoa said. "I think it's a combination of the waves and the adventure that you get surfing there. You don't get that in the other places, so definitely a lot of people want to come and experience that."
And while their surfing friends are considering making the trip north, the sisters are already looking for even colder places to test their board skills.
"I haven't surfed anywhere colder than Canada yet, but I really want to make it over to the other side of Canada in Nova Scotia, and it gets really cold there," Mathea Olin said. "I'd also love to go to Iceland."