MARKS Caroline

Preferred stance
Goofy (worldsurfleague.com, 01 Dec 2019)

General
FIRST EQUAL PRIZE MONEY WINNER
In 2019 she won the season-opening WSL Championship Tour event in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia which saw her claim the $100,000 prize, which was the first major international surfing contest to award equal prize money to female and male competitors. "I'm sure the girls who have been on tour for a while have thought a lot more about it than I have. I just don't even think about the money. I just kind of go out there and surf. But the equal pay thing is amazing, for sure. People are tuning in to watch girls, [and] it used to be people would tune in just to watch the guys. Once the Olympics does happen, people will take us even more seriously because they'll realise how hard we work." (latimes.com, 10 Mar 2020; elitedaily.com, 02 Jan 2020)

FAMILY AFFAIR
Surfing is a popular sport in her family and she was inspired by her older brothers, especially Luke, as she was growing up and learning to surf. "Having older brothers that surf and who are always trying to push each other, like my brothers, they push me so much in the water when they're out there. It really helps because I want to surf like a guy. We're always trying to find the best surf breaks. Wherever we surf, we always have a good time." (Red Bull Surfing YouTube channel, 22 Feb 2017)

OLYMPIC SPORT
She hopes the increased exposure of surfing at the Olympic Games will help grow the sport and overturn stereotypes of surfers. "[Having surfing at] the Olympics is going to touch such a bigger audience. That's what I hope - that it brings a lot more attention to the sport. The stereotype [of surfing] is kind of like, 'cruising, sleeping in, not really training that hard'. That's totally the opposite of what surfing is, actually. We all get up early, we all train super hard, we all eat healthy. I think now that it's at the Olympics, people might take [surfing] a lot more seriously. We are high-level athletes, and I think people will look at us more like that instead of the cruisy, surfer type." (elitedaily.com, 02 Jan 2020)

SCHOOL
She began competing on the World Surf League [WSL] circuit in 2017, when she was age 15. "I don't feel like I'm missing out [on a regular school life]. I feel like what I'm doing is a lot cooler than what I would be doing if I was I in a normal school, like prom and winter formal [American high school dance parties]. I would rather be travelling the world and trying to be the best in the world at what I do. I think that's way more fun." (latimes.com, 13 Sep 2018)

In 2017, at age 15, she became the youngest woman ever to qualify for the WSL women's Championship Tour. (latimes.com, 01 Aug 2019)