Caroline Marks

Caroline Marks (born February 14, 2002) is an American professional surfer and the 2023 WSL Women's World Tour Champion. 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.[1][2]

Caroline Marks
Personal information
Born (2002-02-14) February 14, 2002
Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
ResidenceMelbourne Beach, Florida, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight127 lb (58 kg)
Surfing career
Best year1st: 2023 - WSL World Champion
SponsorsRed Bull, Oakley, Roxy
Major achievements
Surfing specifications
StanceGoofy

She competed in the elite (top 16) of the World Surf League[3] and ended 2018 season in 7th place, becoming Rookie of the Year. She was born in Boca Raton, Florida on February 14, 2002[4][5] and lives in San Clemente, California.[6]

On December 1, 2019, Caroline qualified as one of the two women of the USA’s first surfing team to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[7]

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.[8] 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.[9] The house she grew up in had a big backyard with a motorbike-track, halfpipe, and a surf break across the street.[10] She discovered her love of sports on horseback through barrel racing and began surfing competitively when she was 8 years old.[11] 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.[11][12][13] 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.[9]

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.[14]

2019

In April 2019, at the first event of the WSL Championship tour, Marks defeated then seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore at the Australian's home break of Duranbah, New South Wales in the quarter-finals of the Boost Mobile Pro Gold Coast. She then continued through the semi-finals beating Malia Manuel from Kauai. 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).[15][16]

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.”[17]

2019 World Championship Tour

In December 2019, she finished second on the WSL Championship tour to Carissa Moore.[18] By finishing second, Marks earned a spot on the team for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, along with Moore.[19]

2021

Marks tested positive for COVID-19 in advance of a World Surf League competition in Australia in early 2021 and later found out it was a false positive, which nullified her fears of not being able to compete.[20][21]

2020 Summer Olympics
See also: Surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Marks was the youngest surfer to qualify to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics postponed to July and August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and held in Tokyo, Japan.[22]

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.[23] 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.[24][25] 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.[26][27]

In the quarterfinals, Marks won her head-to-head heat against Brisa Hennessy with a score of 12.50 points and qualified for the semifinals.[28] 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.[29] In her final match against Amuro Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki won the bronze medal and Marks ended competition ranked fourth overall.[30]

2022

In February 2022, Marks withdrew before the second event of the season and took time away from tour “to deal with some recurring medical and health issues.” She missed half the season and did not qualify for the WSL Finals. [31]

Career Victories
WSL Finals Wins
YearEventVenueCountry
2023Rip Curl WSL FinalsLower Trestles, California United States
WCT Wins
YearEventVenueCountry
2023SHISEIDO Tahiti ProTeahupo'o, Tahiti French Polynesia
2023Surf City El Salvador ProPunta Roca, La Libertad El Salvador
2021 Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic presented by Corona Narrabeen, New South Wales Australia Australia
2019MEO Rip Curl Pro PortugalSupertubos, Peniche Portugal
2019Boost Mobile Pro Gold CoastGold Coast, Queensland Australia
WQS Wins
YearEventVenueCountry
2018 Ron Jon Florida Pro Sebastian Inlet, Florida United States
2018 Los Cabos Open of SurfZippers, San Jose del Cabo Mexico
2019 Florida Pro Sebastian Inlet, Florida United States

Junior Event Wins
  • 2015 US Open Jr. Champion
  • 2016 ISA Girls World Champion (U16)
  • 2016 US Open Jr. Champion[32]

Open Event Wins
  • 2015 Volcom World VQS Champion
  • 2x Open Women’s NSSA Champion
  • 6x Surfing America Champion
  • 2x Open Girls NSSA Champion[32]


Personal

Marks has a YouTube channel she started February 23, 2021 where she uploads videos related to her surfing.[33] Her first video featured her surfing with Lakey Peterson.[34]

Marks is a feminist 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.[35][36]

References
  1. "Caroline Marks". Red Bull. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  2. "Pro Surfer: Caroline Marks". World Surf League. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  3. "Athletes". World Surf League. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  4. "Caroline Marks Biography, Videos & Photos - Roxy". Roxy. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. Chen, Jessica Q. (September 13, 2018). "Caroline Marks makes history as a 16-year-old on the WSL Championship Tour". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  6. "How Surfing Prodigy Caroline Marks Stays True to Her Florida Roots". Flamingo. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  7. "Carissa Moore, Caroline Marks qualify for U.S. Olympic surfing team" NBC Sports. December 1, 2019.
  8. Lewitt, Theo (February 21, 2017). "Surf the Greek Isles With Caroline Marks". Red Bull. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  9. Graham, Pat (July 10, 2021). "High-Water Marks: Teen Surfer Rides Memorable Wave to Tokyo". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  10. "Pro Surfer: Caroline Marks". World Surf League. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  11. Yap, Audrey Cleo (July 24, 2018). "Teenage professional surfer Caroline Marks comfortable with unconventional life". ESPN. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  12. Marks, Zach (March 19, 2018). "How I Built a $100 Million Company by the Time I Was 17 Years Old". Entrepreneur. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  13. "Grom Social Ambassador Caroline Marks - The World's #1 Ranked Women's Surfer - To Be Featured In The All-New Grom App". Yahoo! Finance. May 21, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  14. "Caroline Marks Is Loving The Ride To Professional Surfing Success And Perhaps The Olympics". Archived from the original on May 23, 2019.
  15. "How To (Nearly) Combo 7x World Champ Stephanie Gilmore At Her Home Break". Stab Magazine. June 4, 2019.
  16. "Day 5 Post Show: Marks Claims First Win, Ferreira Sweeps". World Surf League.
  17. "Caroline Marks is First Surfer to Win Team USA Award". Surfline. May 8, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  18. "Women's Championship Tour Rankings". World Surf League. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  19. OlympicTalk (December 2, 2019). "Carissa Moore, Caroline Marks qualify for U.S. Olympic surfing team". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  20. Carroll, Nick (April 13, 2021). "Going Vertical: The women are owning it right now". Surfline. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  21. 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.
  22. Bricker, Tierney (July 10, 2021). "Meet the 6 Surfers Set to Make Waves at the 2020 Olympics". E! Online. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. "Caroline Marks Advances to Surfing Quarterfinals". WRC-TV. July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  26. "Caroline Marks puts up highest score in Round 3". KTVZ. July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  27. Walters, Tim (July 26, 2021). "Caroline Marks easily wins Round 3 surfing heat to advance at Olympics". Florida Today. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  28. Urban, Mychael (July 26, 2021). "U.S. teen Caroline Marks, teammate Carissa Moore surf into semis". NBC Olympics. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  29. "Surfing-Japan's Igarashi to take on Ferreira for first surfing gold". Reuters. July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  30. "Melbourne Beach native, Olympic surfer Caroline Marks finishes fourth". Florida Today. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  31. https://stabmag.com/features/caroline-marks-wouldnt-change-a-thing/. June 9, 2022.
  32. "Caroline Marks Bio". Ron Jon Surf Shop. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  33. Marks, Caroline. "Caroline Marks - About". YouTube. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  34. Marks, Caroline (February 25, 2021). "PRACTICE HEATS AND FREE SURFS WITH LAKEY PETERSON". YouTube. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  35. Azzi, Alex (June 16, 2021). "How surfer Caroline Marks learned to love her body". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  36. Gurry, Lili (June 16, 2021). "Podcast: U.S. surfer Caroline Marks advocates for body positivity". NBC Olympics. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
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