Surfer Erin Brooks Granted Canadian Citizenship In Bid For 2024 Olympics
The day after the conclusion of the WSL World Junior Championships, 16-year-old phenom Erin Brooks has received Canadian citizenship as she pursues a bid for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Born in Texas, raised primarily in Hawaii, her Canadian roots can be traced to her father and grandfather.
Last year, Brooks’s initial application for Canadian citizenship was denied. A ruling by Ontario's Superior Court of Justice in December paved the way for her eventual citizenship, which has just been made public.
“I love Canada. I have never been prouder to wear the Maple Leaf," Brooks said in a prepared statement. “To Minister Marc Miller and MP Jenny Kwan, you have changed my life. I believe that I will do something truly special for my country thanks to your gift of citizenship.”
Lost Canadian Erin Brooks has been granted her Canadian citizenship after reconsideration by the Minister of Immigration. Erin Brooks, a 16-year old surfing prodigy and has worked hard for her whole life for the chance to compete for Canada at the Olympics. 1/ pic.twitter.com/fbhkT5uaEW
— Jenny Kwan (@JennyKwanBC) January 13, 2024
It’s been a long road to her citizenship. Back in March 2022, Surfing Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee petitioned the International Surfing Association to allow Brooks to compete for Canada while her application was being processed. Nearly two years later, her citizenship is now official.
Brooks has quickly been climbing the professional ranks as she most recently competed in the WSL World Junior Championships, took a win at Haleiwa on the North Shore, as well as topped the podium at a WSL Challenger Series event in Brazil before that. The success hasn’t come without adversity. The family lost their home on Maui in the 2023 wildfires and Brooks’s mother continues to battle breast cancer.
The final opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympics will be at the ISA World Championships in Puerto Rico next month.
Interview: Erin Brooks Talks 2024 World Junior Championships And Beyond
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.