Caroline Marks is an American professional
surfer. She is a multiple national champion and the youngest female to compete in a World Surf League event. She is the youngest surfer to qualify for the women’s Championship Tour.
She competed in the elite (top 16) of the
World Surf League and ended
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
season in 7th place, becoming Rookie of the Year. She was born in
Boca Raton
Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
,
Florida on 14 February 2002 and lives in Melbourne Beach, Florida.
On December 1st, 2019, Caroline qualified as one of the two women of the USA’s first surfing team to compete in the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in Tokyo, Japan.
Early years
Marks' grandmother was raised in
Greece where she gave birth to Marks' mother who later moved to the
United States and gave birth to Marks in
Florida. The third of six children, Marks grew up in
Melbourne Beach, Florida. She has a younger sister and four brothers, two younger and two older than her.
[Graham, Pat (July 10, 2021)]
"High-Water Marks: Teen Surfer Rides Memorable Wave to Tokyo"
'' U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved July 12, 2021. The house she grew up in had a big backyard with a motorbike-track, halfpipe, and a surf break across the street. She discovered her love of sports on horseback through barrel racing and began surfing competitively when she was 8 years old.
[Yap, Audrey Cleo (July 24, 2018)]
"Teenage professional surfer Caroline Marks comfortable with unconventional life"
'' ESPN''. Retrieved August 14, 2018. Marks and her siblings have all supported and encouraged each other in their individual passions. When her older brother Zach was 12, he created the social media site Grom Social for kids, and Marks helped create images and characters for the site. She continues to post on the site as herself, updating users on her adventures and accomplishments. Likewise, her brother, other siblings and the rest of her family have been a constant presence at her competitions, cheering her on, giving her pointers and shouldering her when she takes home a win.
Marks attributes her success and how good she is to her brothers and her roots of trying to impress them when she was growing up.
Career
2018
In 2018, her first year on tour, she had three third-place finishes in 10 events, was named rookie of the year and finished the season ranked seventh in the world.
2019
In April 2019, at the first event of the WSL Championship tour, Marks defeated seven-time world champion
Stephanie Gilmore
Stephanie Louise Gilmore (29 January 1988) is an Australian professional surfer and eight-time world champion on the Women's WSL World Tour (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022).
Career
Gilmore's life as a surfer began at age 9 wh ...
at the Australian's home break of
Duranbah, New South Wales in the quarter-finals of the
Boost Mobile Boost Mobile may refer to:
* Boost Mobile (Australia), an Australian mobile virtual network operator
* Boost Mobile (United States), an American mobile virtual network operator owned by Dish Wireless
* Spark New Zealand
Spark New Zealand Limit ...
Pro Gold Coast. She then continued through the semi-finals beating
Malia Manuel from
Kauai
Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
. In the finals, she defeated three-time world champion
Carissa Moore from
Oahu, to claim her first WSL event title (beginning the 2019 season as the world's top-ranked female surfer).
She is the first surfer to receive Team USA’s Best of April Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of prospective Team USA Olympic athletes. “Caroline is one of those rare athletes that from when she was 12 years old it was obvious that she was going to be world champion,” said USA Surfing head coach Chris Stone. “Not if, but when. To see what she’s doing at 17 years old must be frightening to all her competitors. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.”
2019 World Championship Tour
In December 2019, she finished second on the
WSL Championship tour to
Carissa Moore. By finishing second, Marks earned a spot on the team for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, along with Moore.
2021
Marks tested positive for
COVID-19 in advance of a World Surf League competition in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in early 2021 and later found out it was a
false positive, which nullified her fears of not being able to compete.
[Carroll, Nick (April 13, 2021)]
"Going Vertical: The women are owning it right now"
''Surfline
Surfline is a company and website based in Huntington Beach, California that specializes in surf forecasting and surf reports, live webcasting, photography, videography, as well as editorial coverage of the sport of surfing.
Surfline.com is n ...
''. Retrieved July 12, 2021.[Ryan, Maggie (July 9, 2021)]
"False Positives, Historical Wins, and Finishing High School: Caroline Marks's Road to Tokyo"
'' Yahoo Sports''. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
2020 Summer Olympics
Marks was the youngest surfer to
qualify to compete at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
postponed to July and August 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and held in
Tokyo,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
[Bricker, Tierney (July 10, 2021)]
"Meet the 6 Surfers Set to Make Waves at the 2020 Olympics"
'' E! Online''. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
In round one of
shortboard competition, Marks scored a total of 13.40 points, won her heat, and advanced directly to round three of competition.
[Gibbs, Simon (July 25, 2021)]
"USA duo Marks and Moore advance to Round 3 of women's surfing competition"
'' NBC Olympics''. Retrieved July 25, 2021. In the third round of competition, a head-to head elimination round where two surfers competed in each heat and only the highest scoring surfer advanced to the quarterfinals, Marks won her heat against Mahina Maeda with a score of 15.33 and advanced to the quarterfinals of competition.
[Lutz, Tom (July 25, 2021)]
"Olympics 2020 day three: Kristian Blummenfelt wins men's triathlon ahead of Alex Yee, swimming, gymnastics and more - live!"
'' The Guardian''. Retrieved July 25, 2021.["Caroline Marks Advances to Surfing Quarterfinals"](_blank)
'' WRC-TV''. July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021. Her score of 15.33 was the highest score of all the competitors, male or female, in the third round of competition for all surfing events at the 2020 Olympics.
["Caroline Marks puts up highest score in Round 3"](_blank)
''KTVZ
KTVZ (channel 21) is a television station in Bend, Oregon, United States, serving Central Oregon as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) alongside two low-power stations: Class A Fox affilia ...
''. July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.[Walters, Tim (July 26, 2021)]
"Caroline Marks easily wins Round 3 surfing heat to advance at Olympics"
'' Florida Today''. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
In the quarterfinals, Marks won her head-to-head heat against
Brisa Hennessy
Brisa Hennessy (born September 16, 1999) is a Costa Rican professional surfer who competes in the World Surf League.
In 2019, Hennessy's standing in the WSL qualified her to represent Costa Rica for Surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, ...
with a score of 12.50 points and qualified for the semifinals.
[Urban, Mychael (July 26, 2021)]
"U.S. teen Caroline Marks, teammate Carissa Moore surf into semis"
'' NBC Olympics''. Retrieved July 26, 2021. Marks did not advance to the final heat in her semifinal match against
Bianca Buitendag, instead she advanced to the heat determining the winner of the bronze medal.
["Surfing-Japan's Igarashi to take on Ferreira for first surfing gold"](_blank)
'' Reuters''. July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021. In her final match against
Amuro Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki won the bronze medal and Marks ended competition ranked fourth overall.
["Melbourne Beach native, Olympic surfer Caroline Marks finishes fourth"](_blank)
'' Florida Today''. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
Junior Event Wins
* 2015 US Open Jr. Champion
* 2016 ISA Girls World Champion (U16)
* 2016 US Open Jr. Champion
Open Event Wins
* 2015 Volcom World VQS Champion
* 2x Open Women’s NSSA Champion
* 6x Surfing America Champion
* 2x Open Girls NSSA Champion
WSL Qualifying Series Wins
* 2018 WQS Los Cabos Pro Winner
* 2018 WQS Florida Pro Winner
* 2019 WQS Florida Pro Winner
WSL Championship Tour Podiums
* 2018 WSL Rip Curl Women's Pro: 3rd Place
* 2018 Vans US Open of Surfing: 3rd Place
* 2018 Surf Ranch Pro: 3rd Place
* 2019 WSL Boost Mobile Pro Gold Coast: 1st Place
* 2019 WSL Rip Curl Women's Pro: 3rd Place
* 2019 WSL Corona Open J-Bay: 3rd Place
*
2019 MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal: 1st Place
Personal
Marks has a
YouTube channel she started 23 February 2021 where she uploads videos related to her surfing.
[Marks, Caroline]
"Caroline Marks - About"
'' YouTube''. Retrieved July 10, 2021. Her first video featured her surfing with
Lakey Peterson.
[Marks, Caroline (February 25, 2021)]
"PRACTICE HEATS AND FREE SURFS WITH LAKEY PETERSON"
'' YouTube''. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
Marks is a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and an advocate for body image positivity in women aiming to reduce the sexualization of women's bodies when they are still going through
puberty.
[Azzi, Alex (June 16, 2021)]
"How surfer Caroline Marks learned to love her body"
''NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
''. Retrieved July 12, 2021.[Gurry, Lili (June 16, 2021)]
"Podcast: U.S. surfer Caroline Marks advocates for body positivity"
'' NBC Olympics''. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
References
External links
Profile in World Surf LeagueInstagram profileFacebook profileTwitter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Caroline
2002 births
Living people
American surfers
Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida
People from Melbourne Beach, Florida
Olympic surfers of the United States
Surfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
American female surfers