2023 ISA Planet Surfing Games: Erin Brooks, Joao Chianca, Vahine Fierro

Age and expertise are normally the very best defence against rough waves. But these young surfers are proving that you can soar to the best no matter if you are in your early 20s or even 15 years old.

Joao Chianca, Erin Brooks and Vahine Fierro are amongst the talented youngsters producing a statement on the international surfing circuit this season. Skilled, ambitious and fearless against the most significant waves, they will certainly be ones to watch heading to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and beyond.

Nonetheless have doubts? Tune into the 2023 ISA Planet Surfing Games, which Olympics.com is streaming reside from Surf City El Salvador from 30 May well to 7 June, and watch them go head-to-head with Olympic medallists and planet champions.

Joao Chianca: New Brazilian on the block

As a lot of young athletes know, it is really hard to come out of the shadow of your older teammates.

That is specifically accurate if your teammates occur to be on the Brazilian men’s surfing group. And then the very best way to do it is to go straight to the best of the planet rankings, which is precisely what 22-year-old Joao Chianca did in his second season on the Planet Championship Tour.

Initially introduced as the small brother of major wave surfer Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca, Joao Chianca has promptly produced a name of his personal and emerged as a single of Brazil’s best prospects for Paris 2024.

Chianca produced his debut on the Planet Championship Tour in 2022 exactly where he went mainly below the radar with a streak of 5 17th spot finishes.

But every little thing changed in 2023. Chianca announced his presence with a third-spot finish on the 1st leg of the tour, although a victory at the Portugal Pro in March against Australia’s Jack Robinson and two more third locations helped to solidify his lead in the rankings.

The planet No.1 has however to dip under a Best ten finish this season, but possibly what is even extra satisfying are all the victories he has recorded in head-to-head battles with the sport’s most significant stars like Kelly Slater, Kanoa Igarashi and Rio Weida, as nicely as teammate and Olympic gold medallist Italo Ferreira.

What’s subsequent for Chianca? A planet title would not be out of the query.

Erin Brooks: Higher-flying teenager Olympic champions are speaking about

Even if you are not an professional in how the scoring method operates in surfing, you cannot support but be impressed with the expertise Canada’s Erin Brooks shows on a board.

The 15-year-old became a viral sensation in 2022 as the 1st female to do a front and back flip on a surfboard.

And she’s not only superior in the air.

Brooks produced extra history at the 2022 ISA Planet Junior Championships in El Salvador when she won the Girls U-16 division – Canada’s 1st junior medal in the sport.

What tends to make her achievement especially unique is that Brooks grew up in Texas and 1st stood on a surfboard when she was nine, soon after her loved ones moved to Maui.

Inspired by her 1st surfing lessons, Brooks entered a number of competitions in Hawaii – and lost in the 1st round of every a single. Far from becoming discouraged, the teen began coaching even tougher, paddling out on her board at dawn prior to college and repeating the procedure soon after lessons.

That tenacity and organic talent currently has veteran surfers speaking. Olympic champion Italo Ferreira sends Brooks encouraging messages although Carissa Moore, an Olympic and 5-time planet champion, has complimented Brooks for blazing a trail in women’s aerial surfing, saying, “Erin is undertaking airs I cannot even wrap my head around”.

Vahine Fierro: Property surf benefit

Though the surfing planet is seeking to the infamously big swells in Teahupo’o, Tahiti with understandable trepidation, 23-year-old Vahine Fierro is hoping these waves are as hard as they get when the Olympic competitors requires spot on the island subsequent summer season.

Battling the waves in Tahiti is an daily activity for the island native who began surfing when she was two.

By the time she was 5, Fierro had onlookers speaking and encouraging her to take portion in competitions. She hesitated to adhere to that tips at 1st, preferring to see surfing as a pastime and enjoying the time in the water with her younger sisters, 19-year-old Heimiti and 16-year-old Kohai.

When Fierro did take the leap into competitive surfing, at age 14, it turned out to be a organic match. She promptly created a competitive drive that pushed her from an unexpected junior title in 2018 all the way to the Planet Championship Tour.

Obtaining surfed all more than the planet, it is in the waters of Tahiti exactly where Fierro excels the most. She 1st attempted the major wave at age 15 and has recorded some of her most significant victories there. In August 2022, she entered the Tahiti Pro stage of the Planet Championship Tour as a wildcard and beat Olympic champion Moore in the quarterfinals to finish third general.

With her regional understanding of Tahiti’s waves and plucky attitude, Fierro will be a surfer the world’s very best are watching on the road to Paris 2024.