Caroline Marks: Born to be world champion

After a 2022 World Surf League Championship Tour hiatus and a third-place start at this year's finals in San Clemente, California, Caroline Marks beat the odds and dominated the 2023 WSL Rip Curl Finals to defeat five-time champion and Olympic gold medalist, Carissa Moore.

Since 2007, the same three women have won the world title. The goofy-footed power surfer from Florida broke the mould for the first time since Moore, Stephanie Gilmore and Tyler Wright began their streak 15 years ago.

Between her ultra-competitive nature and brothers who pushed her to the point of tears, it’s as if a world title was written into the story of Caroline Marks before her surfing life even started.

Caroline Marks' early life

Dirtbikes, basketball, skateboarding and playing in the mud while wearing her brothers' clothes are the memories the now 21-year-old holds from her formative years.

The world champion was third in a line of six kids with two brothers that came before.

Although her childhood home in Melbourne, Florida was directly across the 15-mile-stretch of beach that bred legendary Floridian surfers including Kelly Slater, the first daughter in the family began her athletic career just about as far from the ocean as she could get in Florida — on a farm, riding horses.

It wasn’t show jumping, or dressage or even steeplechase that had Caroline hooked throughout her single digit ages — it was none other than Texas rodeo — and according to her brother Luke in the Story of Caroline Marks documentary, she was “really good at it”.

It wasn’t until the summer after Caroline turned 10 that she took to surfing.

“We used to run mock heats behind the house in Florida,” she explained in the YouTube documentary.

With her dad judging, the ultra-competitve pre-teen would come up the beach crying and contesting the results after losing to her oldest brother Luke, a professional surfer.

“We were hard on Caroline, but that also meant she got tough…fast,” said Luke.

“And then she got really good; really good at surfing, sure, but also really good at winning.”

She continued challenging her brothers, stopping at nothing until she beat them. Today, they try to keep up with her, but she still credits much of her success to the influence they had over her when she was young.

On a recent Instagram post celebrating her world title, she wrote: “To my older brother Luke, thank you for showing me surfing, giving me my first board and going out there with me every day and pushing me to the point where I'd cry sometimes.”

Caroline Marks’ rise to greatness

By 15 years old, Marks had won 17 national titles and become the youngest person to ever qualify for the WSL Championship Tour — an annual event in which the world's best surfers compete in a worldwide circuit that ultimately crowns the best male and female with the world title – all just three years after she began her competitive surfing career.

Mike Parsons, Caroline’s coach and former big wave surfer, first recognised her talent when she swept the USA Championships, winning the under 14, 16 and 18 divisions after initially signing up because her brothers did.

“She was like 14 and she won all three of them,” said Parsons in the documentary.

“It was just obvious that she was by far the best surfer there.”

It was the biggest amateur competition in the United States and the moment that Parsons, the Marks family and Caroline herself realised she was destined for greatness.

For the next two years, she competed in the qualifying series and racked up nearly 20 national titles.

In 2017, she qualified for her first Championship Tour (CT), in 2018 was awarded Rookie of the Year and in 2019, had a breakout year.

It was on the Gold Coast of Australia, host of the first stop on the 2019 circuit, that Marks claimed her first-ever CT victory, beating long-time greats and her own idols, including Olympic gold medalist Moore and eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore of Australia. She proved, right off the bat, she was ready to play.

Gender parity in WSL surf events

That competition also marked the first-ever WSL event with equal pay for men and women, as the league made strides in closing the gender wage gap.

From this event forward, it was announced that every WSL-controlled event would award equal prize money, contrasting with 10 years prior, when California’s Courtney Conlogue accepted a $4,500 prize purse next to her male counterpart, who accepted over 2000% more with a $100,000 purse.

In 2019, Marks received $100,000 in prize money for her win, the exact amount her male counterpart, Italo Ferreira, was awarded for his victory.

Marks was 17 years old, and the momentum didn’t stop there, as she racked up podium finishes at six of the next 10 events, landing her a World No. 2 spot at the end of her second year on tour.

Once again, timing was on her side and along with Moore, she was selected to represent Team USA at surfing’s Olympic debut the following year, at Tokyo 2020.

Then, just as the 2020 Tour was about to kick off, with Marks telling the media she was “on a roll”, the world came to a halt.

COVID-19 hit and the season was cancelled.

The tour resumed in 2021, but it wasn’t quite the year she had hoped for, missing the final five by one rank, barring her from the Tour Finals, and then finishing fourth at the Olympic Games, missing the podium by just one, once again.

Caroline Marks’ 2022 Tour absence

In 2022, Marks made the return to the Championship Tour.

On the first stop of the circuit, the Billabong Pro Pipeline, she failed to make it out of the elimination round and finished in 17th place. Prior to this event, the lowest finish she'd recorded at a CT event was 13th — in her rookie year.

Making the decision to take herself out of the running for the world title, Marks did not attend the five events that followed.

“It was something that had to happen,” she said to Peter Flax on a podcast, explaining that it was a collective decision between herself, her family and her team.

“All I’ve ever known is being at the highest level,” she shared.

For five years – from the time she was 15 years old – she had been going full-on, full-time. She was constantly traveling the world and the growing pressure of expectations was inevitable as she climbed the ranks so quickly.

“I’m grateful for all the Olympians that actually spoke out,” her mother, Sarah Marks, said on the podcast.

“The pressure of the world is tremendous on an athlete.”

It was a tough adjustment for the Olympian. For the first time since middle school, she spent consecutive weeks at home, and for a while, did not surf at all.

Marks returned to the 2022 Tour for the final four events, taking one third-place finish and three fifth spots.

Parsons had previously said that one thing that was so special about Marks was her general “stoke” for the sport.

“It’s hard to find surfers or athletes that love what they do as much as she does; It’s like a young Kelly Slater,” he told Good Morning America in 2018, referencing the iconic surfer, winner of 11 men's world titles.

He also mentioned that at competitions, Marks would finish her heat, go surf down the beach for fun, and then make it back in time for her next heat.

A reset needed to happen as she no longer found the sport fun.

Clearly, Marks and her team made the right decision as the next year, she beat legendary Hawaiian surfer Moore to earn the world title, something she'd dreamed about from the very beginning.

“She came back hungrier and with a really good perspective on what it’s going to take, with a real appreciation for being a pro surfer,” said Parsons.

What’s next for Caroline Marks?

What’s next? Well, first: The Coveted Yellow Jersey.

Similar to the iconic Tour de France yellow jersey, the world leaders get to wear the symbol of victory and greatness with their last name printed on the back as they compete throughout the season.

Victory for Marks also secured the final Olympic women's quota available for USA through the WSL Championship Tour, after Moore obtained the first American slot for Paris 2024 last month.

On Marks’ Instagram, she’s shared how it’s taken time to process her accomplishments but ensured she took time to congratulate Moore, as well as thank her friends, family and all of those who came out to support her.

“Thank you for believing in me. I’ll cherish this moment forever.”

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.