Caroline Marks certainly made USA Surfing proud. The entity wants to continue to help develop athletes like her. Photo: ISA
Editor’s Note: The following opinion was penned by Vipe Desai, SIMA’s executive director, world champion Shaun Tomson, Peter “PT” Townend, USA Surfing’s founder and a fellow world champ, and Bob Mignogna, former director of the ISA and a former publisher of SURFING magazine.
We’ve been part of Surfing’s Olympic journey since the late 1990s when the Surf Industry Members Association provided seed financing and leadership to launch Surfing America, the forerunner of USA Surfing. Surfing America immediately became recognized by the International Surfing Association as the National Governing Body for the sport in the United States.
We have a tremendous amount of respect for U.S. Ski & Snowboard and what they have done for winter snowsports.
But what we witnessed at the recent U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) hearing on the future of the sport left us stunned.
U.S. Ski, a winter sports organization with no real connection to surfing, has applied to become the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee recognized National Governing Body for Olympic Surfing. But during their own public hearing, U.S. Ski’s CEO said, on the record, “We have no interest in being the National Governing Body for Surfing.”
Instead, it was explained, their goal is to help deliver four shortboard surfing athletes to the Olympics and “leverage commercial assets.” In other words, U.S. Ski doesn’t want the responsibility of building surfing from the ground up; they just want the financial benefits that come with the athletes at the top.
That statement alone should disqualify their bid.
The entire hearing made it clear how out of step U.S. Ski is with the sport of surfing. One of their presentation slides featured a surfer riding backward on the board! No one on their team corrected it. They referenced Surfing Australia as a model, but failed to mention that Surfing Australia governs all International Surfing Association (ISA) disciplines, including para-surfing, longboard, and SUP from the grass roots to the Australian Olympic Team. U.S. Ski made it clear they have no intention of doing the same for surfing in America. Their proposal ignores the full ecosystem of competitive surfing: no support for juniors, para-surfers, SUP surfers, prone racers, or the longboard surfing community.
They also claimed that elite surfers support their bid, without naming one. Meanwhile, U.S. Olympic teammates, the ISA, the World Surf League, the U.S. Boardriders Clubs, and the Surf Industry Members Association have all publicly and unequivocally backed USA Surfing.
These are the people and organizations who built surfing’s Olympic pathway. Their voices matter and must not be ignored.
U.S. Ski currently manages ten disciplines, but athletes in several of those disciplines continue to express concerns about underfunding and lack of attention. Expanding its portfolio doesn’t guarantee support for its existing core constituency; rather, it dilutes it. Surfing isn’t an asset to be folded into a branding strategy for sponsorship. It’s a high-performance sport that demands its own infrastructure, community trust, and cultural understanding.
Fortunately, the international federations are providing clarity guided by principles of protecting athletes and strengthening sport. The International Surfing Association, recognized by the International Olympic Committee as as the international non-governmental organization responsible for governing surfing at the world level, has said it will not recognize any national governing body that doesn’t govern all International Surfing Association disciplines. And World Skate, which oversees the sport of skateboarding (another discipline U.S. Ski would like to add to its portfolio), has urged the USOPC to pause its National Governing Body certification process until a qualified, sport-specific applicant is presented.
This isn’t about turf. It’s about legitimacy and athlete protection.
USA Surfing has served as the ISA-recognized National Governing Body for more than three decades. It runs competitions, develops young talent, and supports every discipline under the International Surfing Association umbrella. It helped launch the careers of World Champions and, now, Olympic Gold Medalists. That’s stewardship.
To ignore this track record and replace it with a proposal rooted in commercial upside isn’t just wrong for surfing, it risks undermining the credibility of the Olympic governance system in the USA.
The solution isn’t a takeover. It’s collaboration.
For sure, U.S. Ski has funding, infrastructure and marketing experience. However, what they lack, USA Surfing has: the community, the credibility, and the systems that support actual surfers. We hope the USOPC is serious about serving athletes and that it should bring both organizations together to partner, with USA Surfing maintaining governance and fidelity to the sport and to the surfers.
This process should never be about who can capitalize on an Olympic moment. It should be about who has shown up, day after day, year after year, for the athletes, the sport, and the future.
Surfing deserves leadership rooted in the waves, not the slopes.
Let’s put athletes before assets. Stewardship before strategy decks. And let’s protect the Olympic future of surfing by recognizing the organization and the people who have made the changes required by the USOPC and have earned the right to lead it.
Founded in 2010, The Inertia is the definitive voice of surf and outdoors. They approach the natural world and its devoted culture with curiosity, optimism, and respect. They take pride in bringing their passion for the oceans and mountains to life through original films, reporting, and monumental gatherings. They aim to make a positive impact on the planet through partnerships with nonprofits working hard to preserve earth’s sacred places. Be sure to visit The Inertia website to view valuable Surfing and Outdoor related News and Resourceful Articles regularly.
The future of Olympic Surfing is important, but in our opinion, there is nothing more important in surfing than the surf shops. The hardworking people who curate the latest surf products and so many remarkable community events while creating and sustaining the local scenes have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into their “Temples of Stoke. If you are a surf shop owner reading this article, please note that your service is appreciated, and be sure to give yourself a pat on the back and give everyone on your staff a high five for everything you have accomplished collectively over the past year. In addition, be sure to remind your customers and your entire community that May 17th is Surf Shop Day. Do encourage them to embrace this important Holiday and celebrate by supporting your local surf shop.
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