Imagine a 17-year-old making the NHL, NBA or MLB. That’s the equivalent of what Tofino-based prodigy Erin Brooks is on the brink of doing. She made history last month as the first Canadian to win on the Championship Tour of the World Surf League — and in her first Champions Tour event.
Brooks, who got in as a wildcard entry in the Fiji event, defeated 2024 Paris Olympics silver-medallist Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil, in the final. With just two events remaining in 2024, Brooks’ bonanza of points from winning in Fiji, has put her on the verge of qualifying for the 2025 WSL Championship Tour next season.
The breakthrough victory helped salve the sting of failing to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics following an arduous journey to obtain her Canadian citizenship, which came through just before the final Olympic qualifier in March at Puerto Rico, where Brooks underperformed and failed to advance to the Paris Games surfing competition in Tahiti.
But beating the Olympic silver medallist Weston-Webb more than made a statement: “This has not hit me yet and it’s been a few weeks,” said Brooks. “I just want to keep on track and keep having fun and enjoying every moment.”
It wasn’t so much fun as it was pressure this year, as the race was on, to obtain her Canadian citizenship before the final Olympic qualifier. Brooks’ paternal grandfather was born and raised in Montreal and her father, Jeff, is a dual Canadian-American citizen who was born in Texas and lived in Hawaii, where Erin was born.
“I grew up in a culture [Hawaii] where everyone surfed,” she said.
The family has been based in Tofino, the home of Canadian surfing, for a couple of years and began the process of gaining dual citizenship for Erin. But the request for citizenship was initially denied before being granted in a labyrinth process.
Although she fell short for Paris — Sanoa Dempfle-Olin of Tofino was the lone Canadian surfer to qualify for the 2024 Olympics — it’s hard to imagine Brooks not shining for Canada in a future Summer Games.
“I am still so young and there will be more Olympic opportunities for me in 2028 [at Los Angeles] and 2032 [at Brisbane]. I am going to do everything I can to get there,” she said.
But the Games happen only once every four years. The bread-and-butter year-in and year-out for pro surfers is the WSL Championship Tour. The win in Fiji sent more than a ripple — it was like a tidal wave — through the surf world and further enhanced Brooks’ reputation as the Next Big Thing in women’s surfing. But if she’s daunted by living up to that prospect, she doesn’t show it, and is steely and composed beyond her years.
“There is always going to be pressure to do well and build up the storyline,” said Brooks, in an interview from Bali, where she is training.
It’s a plotline that could help grow the sport in this country.
“Everyone in Tofino has been so welcoming and I spend a lot of time there,” said Brooks.
“It has world-class waves, to give the next generation of Canadian surfers opportunities.”
It’s no secret who that Next Gen will be led by.
“I’m excited to show people what I can do,” said Brooks.
