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Tofino’s annual surf competition draws thousands

British Columbia

The Vancouver Island event is a "celebration of all things surfing" but the sport's addition to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has energized competitors

Surfers stride through the waves to begin competing at the Rip Curl Pro Tofino Canadian Surfing Championships at Cox Bay Beach.

Melissa Renwick
Tofino,b.c.

This article was published more than 6 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Surfing isn't a sport for-14-year-old Mathea Olin - it's a way of life.

Olin is one of the next generation of up and comers, winning two categories - the U16 Girls and Longboard Womens - and placing third in the Pro/Am Womens event at this weekend's Rip Curl Pro Tofino Canadian Surfing Championship.

"I'd love to take Canadian female surfing to a new level," she says. "I feel like being out in the water, and everybody getting together and just everyone sharing the stoke is just a great way to spend your life."

Friends high five Mathea Olin after winning the U16 Girls Final.

The competition is the largest and longest running of its kind in Canada.

The three-day event has been a staple for the small coastal town of Tofino on Vancouver Island's west coast for 11 years. Dom Domic, president of SURF CANADA, says it normally draws around 2000 unique visitors to Cox Bay Beach and attracts around 180 competitors, from international destinations like California, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Barbados, to elite local surfers.

Aqua Bruhwiler, left, 11, and Jasmine Porter, 12, anxiously await their turn to compete in the U12 Girls heat.

Women competing in the longboard finals get their boards ready before being called out into the water.

Aqua Bruhwiler, 11, left, Keanna Hasz, 12, and Chloe Platenius, 11, greet Jasmine Porter, 12, following her event.

Nick Russell, General Manager of Rip Curl Canada, says that for a long time, the competition was the only surfing event in Canada and the only one open to men and women of all ages. "It's kind of a celebration of all things surfing," he said.

He believes the fresh-faced Olin could potentially make the world tour in years to come.

"I've traveled a fair bit, but the percentage of female surfers in Canada is far higher then any where that I've ever seen in the world," he said.

Domic says it is important to be inclusive. "It's a pretty fringe sport on a pretty fringe part of Canada," but he aims to include as many people that enjoy the ocean as possible, fostering the culture that they've been trying to build since the late eighties.

Simon Bauer puts on a t-shirt on after competing in the Pro Men’s competition.

Aqua Bruhwiler adjusts her leash, while Serena Porter, 12, looks out to the waves before competing in their heat.

Portraits of competitors: Top row, from left, Dan Holtendorp, Elliot Moore, Peter Devries and Reed Platenius. Bottom row, from left, Sanoa Olin, Serena Porter, Aqua Bruhwiler and Leah Oke.

The addition of surfing to the sporting menu at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has energized participants. Russell says competing in this event has become a pivotal part of the process for selection to the Canadian team.

There are a lot of surfers who don't feel the sport should be included in the Olympics, he notes, because a lot of the attraction to surfing is that it's not "super competitive."

He supports the move, however.

"What comes with that is just a lot of opportunities."

As the stakes grow higher, so too, it seems, does the sport's popularity. Russell says that within the past 10 years there's just "more and more people in the water every year."

A surfer shreds a wave as he competes on the first day.