A wave of competitive energy cascaded across Tofino’s backdoor over the weekend as the Rip Curl Nationals barrelled into Cox Bay.
Supporters and fans filled the sand to cheer on the country’s top surfing stars from May 9-11 with hometown legends basking in the stoke alongside budding groms as divisions ranged from Under-14 to 40+.
“It’s at home and all of the kids and surfers around Tofino all come together for this one event…It showcases all of the young talent who often can’t go compete internationally. They get to show how good they are here and also some of the older competitors get to show how good they still are,” Ocea Green told the Westerly News after taking the Under-16 Girls Division’s top crown.
“The surf scene in Tofino for the younger generation is getting way better. It’s crazy seeing all of these young kids. They’re all so good and they’re all surfing together so they’re all pushing each other to do better. I think that’s really important because it pushes the older kids to stay on their game and keep getting better because they see these little kids coming up behind them getting better and better. It heightens the level everywhere, across all generations.”
Green crushed the waves to score 17 in the U16 division’s final heat, besting Camille Cortazzo, 11.04, Teagan Sandvig, 10.07, and Jade Rosene, 5.67.
“For me, it’s not about beating the other surfers, it’s about surfing my best. In each heat, I just want everyone to be able to catch a few waves where they surf their best. I feel like the heat will go how it’s meant to go, but as long as I catch a few waves where I surf good, then I’m happy.”
She added she was excited to just be able to compete in the event after suffering a concussion about two weeks prior.
“I was really happy because I feel like I’ve put in a lot of work this past year and then I got the concussion and I was really bummed. I thought I wouldn’t be able to compete, but then I competed and that made me really happy,” she said.
Green, 16, has been surfing in Tofino since she was around 7 years old, but began really getting into it during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“During lockdown, I wasn’t in school or anything and I just started surfing every single day. It was one of my favourite things to do just because every day was different and every day I learned something and I loved it,” she said. “I think I love it the most because everyday you paddle out, it’s different.”
Green added a shout out to her mom for Mother’s Day before going on to win the Under-18 Girls Division, scoring 11.94 and topping Teagan Sandvig, 9.2, Shiloh Page, 7.26 and Camille Cortazzo, 5.33.
She then came close to a sweep in her divisions, but her 10.97 score finished second to Mathea Demphle-Olin’s 12.2 in the Open Womens Division finals. Aqua Bruhwiler came third with a score of 7.9 followed by Luana Ferrari, 6.03.
“The waves got really, really tricky for the finals, probably the trickiest it’s been all day. I definitely think because I’ve competed so much and learned how to adapt when you’re out there, that experience probably came into play, but I wish the waves were better so we all could have got some higher scores,” Demphle-Olin told the Westerly.
“I was just trying to make opportunities out there. I knew the conditions were probably going to get worse throughout the heat, so I was just going to make do with what I got, land a couple waves and get a few scores on the board. I, kind of, had a feeling with the waves being so tricky that I wasn’t going to need crazy high scores. I just played it smart. Sometimes, just from competing over the years, that’s what you got to do.”
Demphle-Olin agreed with Green about the future of West Coast surfing shining bright.
“Each generation just gets better and better, so it’s always really exciting to see the next generation just pushing the limits,” she said, adding she loves competing in Tofino.
“It’s my home, so I love surfing here. The waves aren’t the best, but you can find little gems everytime you go out. It’s a challenge, but it’s lots of fun.”
Tanner Sandvig took the Under-16 Boys Division’s top spot with a score of 13.63, narrowly eking out Samuel Weber’s 13.37, followed by Kye Sale, 11.57 and Ryder Prouty, 11.3.
“I’m super excited. I kind of can’t believe that I won that. It was super close, but I got a crazy one at the end that was super sick,” an elated Sandvig told the Westerly. “I took off and it was lining up fast so I raced it and did kind of like a carve and then two really good hits at the end.”
Sandvig travelled to Tofino from San Clemente, California, to make his third appearance at the event and secure his first win.
“It feels really good. I finally got it this time. The competition is pretty hard. There’s a lot of good surfers here,” he said, adding he loves making the trip out. “Tofino is an amazing place. It’s super beautiful here and the waves are really fun.”
Shea Bruhwiler took home the Under-18 Boys Division crown, scoring 12.2 in the finals over Clay Chiovitti, 11.37, Memphis Brown, 11.17, and Fletcher Bebault, 6.03.
“I’m super stoked. Everyone in the water is amazing at surfing.
“They were all ripping. Everyone’s been ripping this whole event and the waves were super fun,” Bruhwiler told the Westerly.
“I was just trying to surf my best and trying to be consistent and pick the good waves and land all my maneuvers…It’s all a cool experience, but it definitely feels really good leaving as the champion.”
Shannon Campbell Brown won the 40+ Men’s Division with a score of 13.5 in the final heat over Greg Urata, 9.04, Jesse Broten, 8.8, and Mikey Nixon, 5.43.
“Pure joy,” Brown told the Westerly when asked for his reaction to the win.
Brown is the head coach of Canada’s National Surfing Team and was stoked to score his first ever Canadian national title.
“The top dogs around here are so good it’s really hard to get a win. I don’t feel bad about losing to those guys, but I just feel so happy to get a win,” he said.
“I’ve been coaching for over a decade here and all the kids that I coach are on the beach, so it’s nice to show them that I can do it a little bit.”
Brown has competed in the event every year since 2007, though this was his first time in the 40+ group and he said being younger than the rest of the pack likely gave him an advantage.
“I knew I had a bit of an edge out there and as long as I caught decent waves and surfed them reasonably well I’d be really hard to beat and I was able to do that. I had two pretty good waves fairly early in the heat,” he said.
“I knew that I was out in front and I was pretty confident that I would walk away with it at the end; I just had to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes and then, at the end there, I just wanted to have a bit of fun, so I took a few waves and tried to push it a little bit harder.”
He added competing in the annual event is a blast with top talent travelling from across the country and beyond to go toe to toe.
“It’s everyone coming together and being in one place at one time from all corners of the globe,” he said.
“It’s just so fun to catch up with your friends, surf together, put the jerseys on and go out and get elbow to elbow and fight for a little bit, then get back on the beach, high-five and have a beer. It’s beautiful.”
Securing his first national title win wasn’t quite the biggest highlight of Brown’s year so far as he and his wife Emily Thicke recently welcomed their first child into the world and one-month-old Benji Brown was in attendance with his mom on Mother’s Day to watch his dad’s win.
Brown laughed that there may be high expectations for young Benji’s future surfing success, but said there will be no pressure on him to enter the sport.
“I really hope that my kid is into sports. I grew up playing every sport that I could. I’m going to expose him to surf as much as possible. All the family vacations will probably be surf destinations, so he might get pretty bored if he doesn’t like it,” he said.
“My dream is that my son will enjoy surfing and that we’ll get to surf together forever and if he really gets passionate about it and wants to be a competitive surfer, then I’ll support him 100 per cent. But, there’s definitely no pressure on him from me. There will be people around me maybe chirping me, being like ‘Isn’t he supposed to rip?’ but whatever he wants to do I’ll be proud and supportive.”
