Teenage surfer Erin Brooks really is riding the crest of a wave these days.
Brooks, a wild-card entry, became the first Canadian woman to win on the World Surf League's elite Championship Tour, defeating Olympic silver medallist Tatiana Weston-Webb in the final of the 2024 Fiji Pro in August.
Brooks' application for Canadian citizenship was initially rejected. But Immigration Minister Marc Miller had a change of heart after a December ruling by Ontario's Superior Court of Justice that it is unconstitutional for Canada to deny automatic citizenship to the children of foreign-born Canadians who grew up abroad.
"It was a bummer that the Olympics didn't go the way I wanted to, but I'm just so stoked with what the rest of the year had for me." The 12-event Championship Tour season kicks off in January, with Brooks looking to visit some of the competition sites in advance to test out the waters. The opening event in Hawaii is followed by stops in the United Arab Emirates, El Salvador Portugal, Australia , San Clemente, Calif., Brazil, South Africa, French Polynesia and FijiHer collection of surfboards travel the globe with her in a specially made bag, which can fit six-plus boards.
"I was just so excited to be there and be around all those people that I've looked up to and wanted to compete with for so long," Brooks said. Their home in Lahaina on Maui burned down during the 2023 Hawaii wildfires and Brooks' mother has been battling cancer, although Erin says she is now doing well.
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