Erin Brooks: The teen at the forefront of women’s aerial surfing

Erin Brooks is no ordinary 15-year-old.

Not in how she lives her life, and certainly not in how she surfs.

Brooks has an affinity for flight, and is already making history competing against and beating men twice her age and size. The Canadian has shown an X-factor, ability, and a mature attitude beyond her years.

“I don’t consider myself as a professional surfer. I still feel like I'm just a kid out there just surfing and having fun,” Brooks told Olympics.com last year.  

“I have a hard time calling myself that sometimes because how I see professional surfers, (they) are - Carissa Moore, Kolohe Andino. They're at the top on the CT (Championship Tour), Olympians, and I feel like I'm below that. Hopefully, I can get there one day.”

Becoming a professional athlete at 12 years old, as Brooks did, is not exactly the norm. She’s already competing against people who have done the sport longer than she’s been alive.

“When I was nine years old, I moved to O'ahu. We lived on the island of Maui and the first few days (after) I moved there, I got invited to a surf lesson. And then from the first wave, that's when I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Brooks told Olympics.com.

• How to qualify for surfing at Paris 2024
• Top facts about the Olympic surfing venue, Teahupo'o in Tahiti.

Erin Brooks: The historic journey so far

The bubbly, Texas-born teen has had a wild ride in the sport so far.

What makes her rise even more remarkable is that she has only been surfing for six years.

She started surfing when she was nine after her parents moved to Hawaii to retire. Little did they know, retirement would soon become travelling the world, chasing the best waves so their daughter could pursue her passion.

“Normally we go to Indonesia because it has a different variety of waves that they may not have here in California, like big, heavy waves, big gnarly barrels. And the water is a lot warmer there than here. But I come here a lot of the time to train for beach breaks because I go to Indonesia for like three months every year and I forget how to surf beach breaks sometimes, so I definitely need practise in every condition,” Brooks said.

The ability to surf in challenging conditions is partially why the Canadian is soaring above other athletes her age. She’s been exposed to waves that many will only dream about.

But due to her lack of competition action, it still came as a surprise to some when Brooks won Under-16 gold at the 2022 ISA World Junior Championship in El Salvador in June. Despite only being 14 years old at the time, she was unstoppable.

“It was so much fun getting to surf with all of the girls from all around the world and getting to represent Team Canada and being the first gold medallist for them. These days were really special, and I had a great crew around me, and everyone was really supportive, and I had a great time.”

To back that result up, two months later she competed in the 2022 Padang Padang Cup as the youngest surfer and only female to ever take part in the competition. And as if making that history wasn’t enough, to top it off, Brooks made it to the final and finished fourth.

The Canadian has carried this momentum into the 2023 season, finishing fifth in a stage of the Women’s Challenger Series in May. The Round of 32 heat at the Sydney Surf Pro saw her beating Olympic bronze medallist Amuro Tsuzuki, who is seven years her senior.

Erin Brooks: Fresh skills

While Brooks often has her father Jeff by her side, she’s the only surfer in the family. Instead, she’s discovered a family in the water with people who guide her and have her back.

But for all the support, she’s had to take a fair share of criticism, especially given her age and gender.

“I feel like now all of the guys are actually really supportive. I get messages from Italo (Ferreira). There are a lot of really good surfers like Shane Dorian and Shane Beschen that are helping me get better and they're just so excited to see the progression of women's surfing," Brooks told Olympics.com.

“But there are days where I go out to line-ups that I get underestimated. They just think I'm a little girl with a bright board and sponsor stickers and that I'm just going to sit around in my bathing suit. And then I go on the wave, and they're surprised. That makes me feel good inside.”

The young athlete sees other people’s doubts as a challenge.

“There's definitely been sessions where people have told me to be careful or they didn't think I should be out there, telling me to go back to the beach or the boat. But once I catch a wave and they see what I can do, then they understand that I'm meant to be out there, and I put in lots of time and lots of work. So, I feel like most of the time I deserve to be out there.

“Lots of guys, they just see a little girl walk up to the beach on a big day, maybe at pipeline or Kanduis, and they're like, 'Is she really going to go out there?' and I'm like, 'Yeah, I am'.”

Erin Brooks: Forefront of women’s aerial surfing

In 2021, Olympic champion Carissa Moore pulled out a huge aerial manoeuvre in Australia. It was an amazing moment because, while aerial surfing is the norm in men’s competitions, this kind of move is rare to see on the women’s tour due to the risks involved.

But with Brooks showcasing skills like this viral video in 2022, there’s little doubt we’ll be seeing more aerials in women’s competitions.

“Aerials are very hard," Brooks said. "You have to have a lot of tries and one of my coaches, Shane Dorian, always tells me that you'll try 1,000 times before you'll make your first one. Then it will be 100, maybe 10, or you'll go a long period of time where you can't make one. I feel like some people are afraid to fall, but you just have to keep trying and believe that you can do it."

What also sets Brooks apart from other teenage female surfers are her abilities and focus. She's on a mission to be the best women's surfer in the world. But not just that, she wants to be the best surfer period. It's a tall task, and one that she's working hard to achieve it. 

“I definitely get really scared, like in bigger waves and new tricks that I haven't tried that may be dangerous, but I just have to know all of the work that I've done to get to that point and trust in myself and believe in myself," she said.

Erin Brooks: The school of life

As much as surfing is a priority in her life, education is too. Brooks loves being home-schooled.

“I get to just go surf every day and surf with my friends. I get to go all over the world and have fun. And I don't have to go sit in a classroom for seven hours all day and I get to be outside and it's way more fun than school," the 15-year-old told Olympics.com.

“Sometimes it's hard. I'll have trips and contests and before have to put in lots of hours, so I don't have the stress that I'll fall behind.”

The surfer's unique lifestyle means her classroom can be anywhere.

“I can speak English and Spanish, and I'm learning Indonesian," she said.

“I learned Spanish in Texas. I went to a school where they had a dual-lingo programme and from pre-school to third grade, every day, all day in the classroom you spoke Spanish. And I got really good at it.

“It’s hard now because living in Hawaii, not a lot of people speak it. So I just watch TV in Spanish so that I can remember or talk to myself. But I use an app called Duolingo. That's how I learned Indonesian, and I wanted to communicate with all of the locals and my friends there and I feel like learning languages is great.”

Erin Brooks: National options

Having dual nationality can be a hot commodity. Brooks is no different.

The teen is a Texas-born, Hawaiian-raised surfer who represents Canada. Her father is a dual American-Canadian citizen, but the choice of national flag came about rather organically.

“When I was younger, I met two sisters in Hawaii. I did a training camp with them, and I saw that they had the Canadian sticker on their boards," Brooks said. "I asked them, 'Hey, what is that?' And they're like, 'Oh, it's from the ISA World Surfing Games'. I told them that I was Canadian and they got in touch with my dad and the team manager. It happened kind of quickly."

Thanks to her mother’s ancestry, Canada was one of several nations available for the talented teen.

“I also had other options, Germany and Italy, but I felt like Canada was the right choice at that moment," Brooks said.

“Surfing Canada sent my great-grandparents a whole box of gear, and they were so excited. And then they sent my dad a bunch of pictures of them and it's special getting to represent them and hopefully, I make them proud.”

Erin Brooks: Role models

There’s no shortage of people for Brooks to look up to. Many men and women before her have paved the way for surfing to become the sport it is today.

“I always try to watch the guys surfing because girls surfing is great and it's getting better every day, but the men are so well-rounded and I want my surfing to be as good as theirs," Brooks said.

“I watch a lot of Italo Ferreira because he's crazy and the surfing is so unpredictable, you never know what he's going to do. He's the first Olympic gold medallist for surfing and a world champion, and he is just so exciting.

“He's so nice. He messages me on Instagram, encouraging me to try new tricks and just keep pushing myself and to always have fun.”

The Olympic champion is not the only one who has noticed the younster's skills. Most of the world’s best, including five-time world champion Moore, have had input.

“It makes me feel really special when anybody like that comments. It makes me feel really happy inside and know that I'm doing something right,” Brooks said. 

“Surfers like Carissa and Italo. Sky (Brown) is amazing because I'm pretty sure she's the youngest to qualify for the Olympics, which is crazy because she's one of my friends and it's so cool to see her do that. And she definitely inspires me to keep pushing and hopefully one day we can be in the Olympics together.

“It's really cool to see all of the younger girls in all different sports, getting better, pushing themselves and trying to progress and follow their dreams.”

Erin Brooks: A bright future

While Brooks has plenty of ambition or drive, time will tell if she can make it with the best of the best.

“My goal every day is to keep pushing myself as hard as I can and to have the most fun that I can surfing. But I want to make the CT and the Olympics and fight for gold medals and world titles," she told Olympics.com.

“I think about those things almost every day. Whenever I go out surfing I just want to get better and hopefully have more progression and enough that I can make those goals happen.”

The sport of surfing has come a long way from the days of it just being considered a hobby. It’s evolved into a multimillion-dollar business. Its inclusion into the Olympics has no doubt helped it gain more international credibility, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear how much time professional athletes, no matter their age, spend honing their craft.

“I try to surf at least four hours every day. That might seem like a lot, but to me, surfing is so much fun, so it doesn't feel like a lot at all and it's always fun getting to train. I do a lot of workouts. I skate with my friend Sky Brown a lot and I'm always just trying to get bigger, stronger, and better at surfing.”

Brooks is also already familiar with Teahupo’o, the famous wave that will host the Paris 2024 Olympic surfing competition.

“The first time I actually surfed Teahupo'o was when I was 11," she said. "And the first time I just surfed it, maybe like four-foot faces. There were some tiny little barrels, but it was mostly just turns. But that wave is so crazy. It's so powerful and raw. I saw people get some of the best waves of their life and have some of the worst wipe-outs of their life. And it's so gnarly just being on the shallows.

"When you're surfing it, when it's small, it's not that bad. You think it's all pretty. The water is so clear, you can see it. But when it's big and the water's only so deep, you get really nervous.

“It's really cool. The wave goes around you, it's crystal blue water. You see all of the boats and the jet skis and the channel and the island behind it. And when you come out, you're so proud of yourself that you made it, that you didn't fall on the reef.”

And as far as Paris 2024 goes, the aim for Brooks is simple.

“My goal would be to get a gold medal," she said. "It would mean the world to me. Getting to represent Canada and being in the Olympics by itself is such an honour. If I could do that, that would be my biggest achievement and I would make my dream come true. But there's a lot of girls that want it, and I know that if I want to get there, I just have to keep pushing myself and making heats and not giving up.”