Canadian surfer Erin Brooks rides a wave during the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games at the El Tunco beach in El Salvador on June 7.MARVIN RECINOS/AFP/Getty Images
Teenaged prodigy Erin Brooks won Canada’s first open-surf medal at the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games in El Salvador on Wednesday.
The 15-year-old was narrowly beaten in the dying seconds of the final heat by Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, a split judging decision that left some on the beach scratching their heads. “But that’s our sport – you live by the sword, you die by the sword,” said Dom Domic, Surf Canada’s executive director. “It was really, really close.”
Erin still has a lot of potential to unleash on the world, Mr. Domic added. “But she proved to herself and the world that she belongs.”
The 15-year-old, the youngest and smallest competitor in El Salvador, clinched the medal with a display of surfing far beyond her years. Ms. Weston-Webb is 12 years her senior. The bronze medalist, France’s Johanne Defay, is almost twice Erin’s age. The depth of talent in women’s surfing has arguably never been greater.
“I’m so excited to be the first Canadian to ever bring home a medal from an International Surfing Association World Games,” Erin said. “I hope my performance will inspire Canadians and girls around the world to chase their dreams.”
Even the judges came down afterward shaking their heads, Mr. Domic said. “No one can believe someone so young and so small is so good. She’s a freak. She’s like an alien who got dropped down onto this planet. We’re so happy to have her surfing for Canada.”
Erin resides on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, but surfs for Canada; her father, Jeff, a retired police officer, is a dual Canadian-American citizen whose family roots are in Quebec.
The competition was an Olympic qualifier for every region except the Americas, so the pressure on the beach was crushingly high, Mr. Domic noted. “Some cracked. Not Erin. She’s a warrior.”
The second-place finish secured Erin a spot at the Pan American Games in October in Chile, which is also an Olympic qualifier. Should she win there, she’ll punch her ticket for Paris 2024.
“I’m excited about the future of Canadian surfing,” Erin said, “and I’m very excited about the prospect of representing Canada in the Olympics.”
Erin became a viral sensation in 2022 as the first female to do a front and back flip on a surfboard. She won the under-16 gold at the ISA world junior championship in El Salvador last year..
Two months later, she competed in the 2022 Padang Padang Cup as the youngest surfer and only female in the competition. She made the final, finishing fourth.
Erin had more motivation than simply winning a medal at the world championships. Her dad promised her that she could get a puppy if she made the final.
“I think that might have been the biggest motivation for her,” Mr. Domic said. “As mature as she is in the ocean, she’s still just a young teenage girl.”