Caroline Marks

TRAIN LIKE A PRO

Caroline Marks, 19, is the youngest surfer ever to qualify for the women’s Championship Tour. Here she reveals how she prepares for competition at the sport’s highest level.

To earn a high score from the judges, Marks must flow through a series of powerful turns, performing a quick dance across the face of the wave as churning water explodes behind her. She uses her strong and compact body to spin her surf board into a tight arc, throwing her fins up through the wave’s crest and launching herself into the air. So far, so good: In 2019, her second year on the World Surf League Championship tour, she finished in second place after fellow American Carissa Moore.

American surfer Caroline Marks must be ready for anything each time she paddles out for a 30-minute contest heat

GET GREAT AT PADDLING

“I have to be in great paddling shape, and you can’t get that unless you surf a lot. If it’s flat, I find it’s super good to bring out a bigger board and go for a long paddle. That helps me stay in paddle shape.”

SPEED “I do tonnes of footwork to keep me fast”

“Ideally, I surf and do gym work each day – that’s where I work on balance and fitness. Let’s say I’m going to a long-point break like Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. I have to make the last turn as strong as the first turn. It’s really hard to do, because my legs get tired. Sometimes, I have to surf four heats in a day, and I obviously can’t just stop. There’s a big agility ladder at my gym and I try to keep my feet going as fast as I can. I want to keep my heart rate up as long as possible. It’s a lot of fast-twitch motions, too.”

NUTRITION “I pretty much eat whatever I want to eat”

“I just did some tests with Red Bull, because I want to learn more about what I should eat. If I eat something in the morning and I win, then I’ll eat that again. Avocado toast is my go-to in the morning right now. I just do a piece of organic toast, avocado, salt and pepper and cherry tomatoes. I definitely bring snacks like trail mix and protein bars everywhere I go. I don’t have set things I have to have. If I really want avocado and turkey on a rice cake, I’ll have that.”

MENTAL FOCUS “I have to be ready to go with the fow”

“A lot of the most important work is done before the contest even starts, but I also don’t like to over-think things and I always try to keep it simple. As a surfer, it’s hard to make a game plan, because you never know how the waves are going to be. I have to be on it even when I’m fatigued during a heat. At the gym, I stand on a balance ball on one leg. My trainer will throw a medicine ball to me and I have to catch it one-handed. He doesn’t tell me which side he’s throwing to – it’s super random.”

FLEXIBILITY “I have to make sure to stretch every day”

“I try to surf four hours a day minimum – it’s a really good work-out that makes you use your whole body constantly. I stand really low on my board and I’m always using my legs. They get tight, but fortunately rolling out [my muscles] with the foam roller helps. I’m still young and I don’t feel pain or anything, but I want to avoid that. Being flexible also makes my turns better. I stretch my whole body and use the roller just about everywhere.”

SKATE BOARDING

MEET THE HOPEFULS, LEARN THE BASICS, FIND THE HOTSPOTS

MARK ALLEN MILLER IN THIS SECTION Why Letícia Bufoni is top of her game on page 36 and Sakura Yosozumi opens her bag of tricks on page 48.