surfing

A whale got its turn in the spotlight on the last day of Olympic surfing

2:48pm August 06, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

Kauli Vaast of Tahiti and Team USA's Caroline Marks both won gold on Monday, capping off a dramatic few days of competition that even included a brief appearance by a whale.

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Sports
Arts

A photographer captured the perfect shot of an Olympic surfer's record-breaking ride

11:21am July 31, 2024

by Natalie Escobar

AFP photographer Jerome Brouillet captured the Brazilian world champion Gabriel Medina surfing through a huge wave in a ride that would net an Olympic-record score.

Sports

Tahiti’s waves are a matter of ‘life and death’ for Olympic surfers

1:19pm July 29, 2024

by Jordan-Marie Smith

This is the second Olympics to feature surfing, but it’s the first time competitors are riding waves that are a matter of “life or death,” according to professional big wave surfer Garrett McNamara.

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Why Olympic surfing events are in Tahiti, thousands of miles from Paris

1:24pm July 24, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

Olympic surfing events are taking place in Teahupo’o, a small village nearly 9,800 miles from the host city of Paris. The path to Tahiti has been years in the making, and not without controversy.

Boran Bumovich Hignio, a 7-year-old surfer, gets help with his wetsuit from Diego Villarán, who founded the local surf school, and other staffers.

For these Peruvian kids, surfing isn't just water play

4:51pm October 07, 2023

by Peter Yeung

A school in Peru is part of a wave of community-based projects around the world that uses a perhaps surprising method to help kids: surf therapy. And it's not just about physical well-being.

Pro surfers organized a Saturday morning surf session to help kids do something they love at Ho'okipa Beach on the island's north shore. It's about an hour's drive from Lahaina.

National

Maui's surf pros paddle out with kids from Lahaina for a healing surf session

5:00am August 28, 2023

Families displaced by wildfire get a welcome reprieve as a surf session for kids and families gave them a chance for a normal Saturday.

A southern otter in Santa Cruz, Calif., catches a wave after stealing a surfer's board.

Sports

An otter in Santa Cruz is hassling surfers — and stealing their boards

5:27pm July 15, 2023

by Dustin Jones

The 5-year-old female southern sea otter was first seen hijacking surfboards in Santa Cruz last September. Officials successfully drove the otter away from the area, but she has since returned.

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Brit Oliphant connected with her fourth-grade student, Seth Snyder through skateboarding. Brit was shocked to find out Seth was so passionate about skating but didn't have a skateboard of his own. She started an organization, Boards 4 Buddies, to change t

A teacher in Hawaii is rehoming surfboards and skateboards to underprivileged kids

5:00am June 21, 2022

by Dustin Jones

A schoolteacher in Hawaii connected with a student through skateboarding, only to find out he couldn't afford a board of his own. She started a grassroots organization to fix that.

Caroline Marks of the United States competes during Tokyo 2020 women's round 1 heat of surfing at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday.

Sports

Surfing Makes Waves At The Olympics For The First Time

4:33pm July 26, 2021

by Mandalit del Barco

Surfing often gives off an endless summer, meditative, chill vibe. But at the Olympics, athletes have to focus on skills, tricks and points, and, of course, looking for the perfect wave.

U.S. surfer Lakey Peterson is carried up the beach after claiming victory in a World Surf League event in Australia in March. The league says it will start paying the same prize money to men and women.

Sports

Equal Pay For Equal Shreds: World Surf League Will Award Same Prizes To Men And Women

2:22pm September 07, 2018

by Laurel Wamsley

The league had come under fire for the pay gap in its prize money. "I honestly didn't see it coming," said Carissa Moore, a three-time world champion.