Thiago Diz / WSL
Thank You Carissa Moore, The Future Is Now Wide Open
In junky, below-average surf on Oahu’s North Shore, five-time world champion Carissa Moore paddled out for her last heat as a full-time competitor on the WSL’s Championship Tour. Unable to conjure the scores needed to advance, she bowed out in the elimination round, an anticlimactic finish to one of the most dominant careers professional surfing has ever seen.
Winning her first world title in 2011 when she was only 18 years old, Moore’s the youngest woman to ever win a title, as well as the first woman from Hawaii to win a title since Margo Oberg did it in 1981. She'd go on to win four more and an Olympic gold medal. She's competed in 121 Championship Tour events, winning 28 of them.
“Growing up you talk about winning world titles and stuff like that, but now it’s actually here. I’m just so happy and thankful right now,” Moore said after winning that first title.
An absolute game-changer, more than a decade ago, almost singlehandedly, Moore ushered in a new era in women’s professional surfing. Pushing performance barriers to new heights, through her arsenal of progressive maneuvers and above-the-lip talents, she moved the sport forward. A highly marketable athlete, she also attracted big-time corporate sponsors like Nike, Target and Red Bull to the space.
But wins, titles and sponsors come and go. Moore’s most sincere contribution to the sport and culture of surfing hasn’t been done in a jersey. It was done by self belief. She’s never hid from her struggles. When an athlete such as Moore is at the height of their power it’s easy to assume their life is perfect, but Moore’s always been open and honest about her behind-the-scenes challenges. Being thrust into the spotlight before she was even a teenager, the journey hasn’t always been easy, but through her humanity and humility she became the most inspiring kind of champion.
Growing up in a broken home on the South Shore of Oahu, straight out of the gates she was forced to strike a balance between surfing and family. Coming of age under the glare of the surf media, while her talents in the water were blossoming, she wrestled with her success, her perception of her body, and her sense of self. Through her transparency and wearing her heart on her sleeve, Moore showed fans that even world champions are human. It’s been her belief in herself that’s inspired the next generation of girls and young women to chase their dreams, be themselves, value themselves, and more than anything, be proud of who they are.
True to her character, through thick and thin, Moore has always taken the high road. Over the span of her career she’s been judged and criticized, it comes with the territory when you’re at the top of the game, but go back and look at every post heat interview that she’s ever given or conversation she’s shared in public and one’s hard pressed to find her speaking ill of anyone. Ever.
She's never admonished the judges in public. She didn't blame the format of the WSL Finals after losing the world title the last two years, even though she certainly could have. Through heartbreaking loses and tough times, she leads with love and light. It couldn't have been easy at times, but even when people were taking shots, Moore’s grace and good nature always prevailed. That’s what makes her the truest of champions.
“I’m kind of searching around for what to do, I don’t want to call it a community service project, but something that gives back. I’m not sure what that’s going to be,” Moore explained in an interview in 2013 when asked about what besides competitive surfing interests her.
Clearly, making the world a better place in and out of the water has been front of mind for some time. And now, at only 31 years old, there’s no question that the best is yet to come for and from Moore.
"I'm excited to see what else there is, outside the jersey," she said in her announcement that she would be stepping away from competitive surfing, echoing her sentiment from a decade ago. "I don't like the word retirement. I like to say a departure from the tour, or just stepping back, or switching gears, or, like, evolving."
Moore's already changed surfing, now she’s going to change the world. Whatever this next chapter holds in store for her, wherever the journey of life takes her, Moore will always be a champion of the people.
