By Rebecca Parsons | Photos Brian Bielmann
Born and raised in Boerne, Texas, you wouldn’t think Erin Brooks would grow up to be a surfer. But watch her tucked deep into a barrel or throwing down a huge air and it’s no question that she was always destined to find her way to the water.
When Brooks was nine, her parents retired and made the move to Maui, Hawai’i. Shortly after arriving on the island, a neighbor invited Brooks out for a surf and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I was living in Lahaina at the time,” says Brooks. “I remember looking around at the clear water, the palm trees and the neighbor islands and thinking ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life.’”
Brooks didn’t grow up surrounded by surfers, so it wasn’t until she moved to Maui that she even gave a career as a professional surfer a thought. When she was ten, her family moved to the North Shore of Oahu and Brooks recalls seeing Eli Hanneman out with a bunch of stickers on his board.
“I asked my Dad if I could get some stickers and he said ‘you have to earn those and Eli gets paid to have those on his board,’” says Brooks. “I made up my mind right then that I wanted to be a pro surfer and get paid to play in the ocean.”
Brooks started entering amateur contests and although she didn’t do well at first, it motivated her to work harder and focus on improving. When she was eleven, Brooks signed her first contract and had the satisfaction of placing a sponsor sticker on her board.
“I still have a hard time thinking of myself as a pro surfer,” says Brooks. “When I think of pros I think of people like Gabriel Medina, John John Florence, and Carissa Moore. I know how lucky I am to be getting paid to do what I love, but I surf because I want to and because it’s fun.”
At 16, Brook’s surfing resume is already a stacked one. In the past year alone, she won the Rip Curl International Grom Search, a gold medal at the ISA Juniors, a silver medal at the ISA Worlds, made the finals of the Rip Curl Padang Padang Cup, and won the WSL Corona Saquarema Pro.
“Every win has been special in its own way but making the finals at the Rip Curl Padang Padang Cup against an all-male field is something I’m really proud of,” says Brooks. “Surfing heats with my favorite surfers in barreling waves is something I’ll never forget.”
If you follow women’s surfing, then you’ve likely seen videos of Brooks charging in big, barreling waves. Over the years, she’s logged a lot of hours on the North Shore as well as Indonesia and Tahiti, gaining confidence in heavy surf. Additionally, she spends a lot of time doing strength and breath hold training, so that she’s prepared and comfortable in trying conditions.
“I get nervous when it gets really big, but I just control my breathing, trust in my training, and paddle as hard as I can,” says Brooks. “Getting barreled is an incredible feeling that never gets old.”
With the Olympics slated to be held at Teahupoo, one of the heaviest barreling waves in the world, Brooks seems like an obvious choice to compete. Her dad is a dual citizen for the U.S. and Canada and she submitted her citizenship application years ago. She’s only ever surfed for Team Canada in international competitions and although she qualified for the Canadian Olympic team, her eligibility was suspended due to her citizenship status.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee and their attorneys have handled all of my citizenship paperwork and they are still hard at work on it,” says Brooks. “I try not to think about it too much. I’m just trying to focus on what I can control, which is my surfing and training. I don’t know what the future will hold but I hope I get the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.”
This past year, Brooks was on the road for over nine months, so stability was hard to come by. As someone that gravitates towards routine and schedule, Brooks does her best to maintain a daily schedule.
Most days, she wakes up at five A.M. and kicks her day off with a workout. She surfs twice a day, typically spending a total of four to six hours in the water. She graduated high school in October, but her parents have her do two hours of continuing education a day. Due to all her workouts, Brooks aims to eat four meals a day and if she has any leftover time, she enjoys skateboarding. At 8 P.M. it’s lights out and the cycle begins anew.
“I guess I’m probably not what you’d call a normal teenager,” jokes Brooks. “But I love my life and I get to do a lot of fun things normal teenagers don’t get to do.”
In addition to the Olympics, Brooks has her sights set on qualifying for the Championship Tour (CT). She’s already qualified for next year’s Challenger Series and hopes to finish in the top five to secure a spot on the CT. Based on her track record, we’re willing to bet it’s only a matter of time before we see her on tour.
“I’m not sure I have a favorite surf mag but I can say I’ve dreamed of being featured in Freesurf since I was nine years old,” says Brooks. “I used to go to Front Street in Lahaina to grab the newest Freesurf magazines. It was always so cool to see pictures and read stories about local surfers. Social media is great but there is something special about being in a magazine.”