| Caroline Marks | |
| Birth Date: | 14 February 2002 |
| Birth Place: | Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. |
| Residence: | San Clemente, California, U.S. |
| Height: | 5feet |
| Weight: | 127lb |
| Best Year: | 1st: 2023 - WSL World Champion |
| Sponsors: | Red Bull, Oakley, Roxy |
| Major Achievements: |
|
| Stance: | Goofy |
| Show-Medals: | no |
Caroline Marks (born February 14, 2002) is an American professional surfer. She is the 2023 World Surf League Women's World Tour Champion and an Olympic gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has won multiple national championships and is the youngest woman to compete in a World Surf League event. Marks is the youngest surfer to qualify for the women’s Championship Tour.[1] [2]
She competed in the elite (top 16) of the World Surf League[3] and ended 2018 season in 7th place, earning Rookie of the Year. She lives in San Clemente, California.[4]
In 2019, Marks qualified as one of the two women on the United States' first surfing team to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[5] At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's shortboard event.[6]
Marks' mother and grandmother were raised in Greece. Marks' mother later moved to the United States and gave birth to Marks in Florida.[7] She is the third of six children.[8] The house she grew up in had a large backyard with a motorbike-track, halfpipe, and a surf break across the street.[9] She discovered her love of sports through barrel racing and began surfing competitively when she was 8 years old.[10] Marks and her siblings have all supported and encouraged each other in their individual passions. When her older brother Zach was 12, he created the social media site Grom Social for kids, and Marks helped create images and characters for the site. She continues to post on the site as herself, updating users on her adventures and accomplishments. Likewise, her brother, other siblings and the rest of her family have been a constant presence at her competitions, cheering her on, giving her pointers and shouldering her when she takes home a win.[10] [11] [12] Marks attributes her success and how good she is to her brothers and her roots of trying to impress them when she was growing up.[8]
In 2018, her first year on tour, Marks had three third-place finishes in 10 events. She was named Rookie of the Year and finished the season ranked seventh in the world.[13]
In April 2019, at the first event of the WSL Championship tour, Marks defeated then seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore at the Australian's home break of Duranbah, New South Wales in the quarter-finals of the Boost Mobile Pro Gold Coast. She then continued through the semi-finals, beating Malia Manuel. In the finals, she defeated three-time world champion Carissa Moore to claim her first WSL event title, beginning the 2019 season as the world's top-ranked female surfer.[14] [15]
She is the first surfer to receive Team USA’s Best of April Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of prospective Team USA Olympic athletes. “Caroline is one of those rare athletes that from when she was 12 years old it was obvious that she was going to be world champion,” said USA Surfing head coach Chris Stone. “Not if, but when. To see what she’s doing at 17 years old must be frightening to all her competitors. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.”[16]
In December 2019, she finished second on the WSL Championship tour to Carissa Moore.[17] By finishing second, Marks earned a spot on the team for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, along with Moore.[18]
Marks tested positive for COVID-19 in advance of a World Surf League competition in Australia in early 2021 and later found out it was a false positive, which nullified her fears of not being able to compete.[19] [20]
See also: Surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Marks was the youngest surfer to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics postponed to July and August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[21]
In round one of shortboard competition, Marks scored a total of 13.40 points, won her heat, and advanced directly to round three of competition.[22] In the third round of competition, a head-to head elimination round where two surfers competed in each heat and only the highest scoring surfer advanced to the quarterfinals, Marks won her heat against Mahina Maeda with a score of 15.33 and advanced to the quarterfinals of competition.[23] [24] Her score of 15.33 was the highest score of all the competitors, male or female, in the third round of competition for all surfing events at the 2020 Olympics.[25] [26]
In the quarterfinals, Marks won her head-to-head heat against Brisa Hennessy with a score of 12.50 points and qualified for the semifinals.[27] Marks did not advance to the final heat after her semifinal match against Bianca Buitendag, and instead advanced to the heat determining the winner of the bronze medal.[28] In her final match against Amuro Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki won the bronze medal and Marks ended the competition ranked fourth overall.[29]
In February 2022, Marks withdrew before the second event of the season and took time away from tour "to deal with some recurring medical and health issues." She missed half the season and did not qualify for the WSL Finals.[30]
| WSL Finals Wins | ||||||
| Year | Event | Venue | Country | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style=text-align:center |
| WCT Wins | ||||
| Year | Event | Venue | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 El Salvador | ||||
| El Salvador | ||||
| style=text-align:center | 2021 | Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic presented by Corona | Narrabeen, New South Wales |  Australia |
| style=text-align:center | ||||
| Australia | ||||
| WQS Wins | ||||
| Year | Event | Venue | Country | |
| 2018 | Ron Jon Florida Pro |  United States | ||
| 2018 | Los Cabos Open of Surf | |||
| 2019 | Florida Pro | United States |
| Olympics | ||||
| Year | Event | Venue | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 France |
Marks has a YouTube channel she started February 23, 2021 where she uploads videos related to her surfing.[32] Her first video featured her surfing with Lakey Peterson.[33]
Marks is a feminist and an advocate for body image positivity in women aiming to reduce the sexualization of women's bodies when they are still going through puberty.[34] [35]