Tihanyi is CEO/co-owner of Surf Diva Surf School and an author. She lives in La Jolla.
The Olympic torch will float through Tokyo and enter the National Stadium during the opening ceremony on July 23, and for the first time our surfers will be there.
San Diego, besides staying classy, has a solid claim as to how surfing managed to beat out numerous other sports trying to stay, or even break into, the coveted Olympic Games.
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The La Jolla-based International Surfing Association is led by the visionary surf legend and entrepreneur Fernando Aguerre. A personal friend of ours, Aguerre led a decades-long team effort to petition the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow surfing. Rallying the surf industry leaders, Aguerre contacted my twin sister Coco and I to help support the initiative for creating a winning bid to present surfing for IOC consideration.
We immediately were on board to help for the simple fact the Olympics are great for women’s sports. Our surf school, Surf Diva Surf School, started as the first all-women’s school, in 1996, but we quickly became co-ed with our staff and students, as it was a natural fit for us to encourage diversity and promote surfing for all ages and abilities in the water. We now teach kids, women and men to surf, and we get to see firsthand the confidence and courage that comes with learning to surf.
Surfing has been our life, since we learned here as little girls at La Jolla Shores. Now we get to share that stoke with a new generation of surfers, both younger and older, of many diverse backgrounds. Showcasing global female surfing stars in the Olympics would be a huge boost for women’s surfing, which needs more mainstream media exposure.
The Olympics have a way of uniting a country when brought together by a love of sports. Now, more than ever, our nation needs a positive and uplifting cause to mend current political and social rifts. The games help unify our world.
Surfing is one of those sports that transcends borders and nationalities. Surfing is generally an individual sport. But when you create international teams, competing for their nations, it becomes a team sport. If two Team USA surfers find themselves in a heat together, will the strategy be to help each other out? What happens when the clock is running out, and one of our surfers needs a last wave to advance over another country? Will our Team USA help each other grab that last wave and final points needed to advance?
This will be a history-breaking show. The women’s side will have equal representation, and hopefully will get a shot at some of the best waves that Japan has to offer to showcase women’s surfing to the globe. With all of the new wave forecasting technology, my hope is that the women’s heats will be run during optimal surfing conditions, so that the competitors can blow us away with their performances, and also inspire more ocean lovers who care about protecting our marine environment.
Top standouts among the 20 women competing include America’s Carissa Moore, France’s Johanne Defay, Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore, Peru’s Sophía Mulánovich and big wave rider Silvana Lima of Brazil. Anything can happen in surfing, with Mother Nature at play, so look for some of the legends of surfing to mix it up with the up-and-coming teens and younger standouts such as America’s Caroline Marks, Japan’s Shino Matsuda and Costa Rica’s Leilani McGonagle and Brisa Hennessy.
Surfers are the most individualistic athletes out there, so it’s an interesting dynamic to see them in the Olympic arena. Honestly, this will be the most interesting Olympics yet. I can’t wait to see how our surfers do in Japan.
With professional surfing now offering equal prize money for women, the playing field will allow more women to compete on a global level. Sponsorships have not yet caught up to the men’s endorsement packages; however, women are catching up quickly as the social media channels are crushing huge numbers on the influencer scale.
On a local level, surf camps and surf schools have booked up months in advance, mostly due to the outdoor and socially distanced nature of surfing, and people wanting to learn proper surf etiquette and equipment selection and safety.
Regardless of which country wins, I hope that our 2021 Olympics will have its Brandi Chastain moment, when a new gold medalist is crowned, inspiring a future generation of female surfers to go for it, and not be afraid to claim that wave. Live the dream.
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July 10, 2021 at 08:00AM
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Opinion: The Olympics are great for women’s sports. We're excited for more exposure for women's surfing. - The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Opinion" - Google News
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