The Three Pillars that Pushed Surfing to the Spotlight

Uppers, Lowers, Middles. Cobblestone reef waves. A Pacific Coast Highway walk that guides people underneath a train bridge.

This is Trestles Beach, a surf capital of California and the home of the sport during the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The brand of surfing on display at Trestles will look much different than the version that made its debut in Tokyo in 2020. 

Over the past few decades, surfing has morphed from a cultural identity and lifestyle into a full-fledged sport driven by professionalism and the sharp advancement of technology. The sport has rapidly grown faster, more equitable, and environmentally aware.

Competition, conservation, and culture are the pillars supporting the fastest-growing water sport in the world. All three are set to converge ahead of a massive milestone in surfing’s history.

Quick Highlights

• World Surf League Championship Tour winners earn $80,000 in events before the mid-season cut and $100,000 in events after the cut.
• A surfboard typically ranges from 6-9 feet in length and weighs 5-15 pounds. 
• The average wave height surfed is 2-5 feet tall. The tallest wave ever surfed was 86 feet tall, surfed by Sebastian Steudtner in 2020.
• Between 2013 and 2019, Women’s Championship Tour prize money rose by 153% and there were over four times as many events on tour.
• Kelly Slater is the most decorated surfer ever, winning 11 titles in his World Surf League career.
• Since its debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, surfing has seen overall participation grow by over 35%.

Competition: Surfing Grows Up as a Sport

Surfing spent close to a century petitioning for a spot on the Olympic program and clearing the requirements to earn one. When it finally debuted in Tokyo in 2020, it delivered.

Two years later it was named a mainstay of the Games, and by Paris in 2024, it had grown enormously in scale and attention.

It got there in part by making itself equitable for every competitor. In 2019, the World Surf League became the first United States-based global sports league to pay men and women equal prize money across every event. In the seven years between 2013 and 2019, Women’s Championship Tour prize money rose by 153%, and the number of global women’s events climbed from 14 to 64.

Athelo’s Brisa Hennessy and Bella Kenworthy are two of the many women competing on that tour today, with Hennessy placing 3rd at the Fiji Pro in August and Kenworthy earning several top-5 finishes in 2025.

Improvements in technology are reshaping the competitive stage, too. Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch and wave-pool venues like BSR Surf Resort are turning “perfect waves” from a rare accident of geography into an on-demand product, giving contests a predictable setting for the first time. Newer safety equipment (inflatable vests, jet-ski rescue teams, tow-in systems) is making spots like Nazaré and Mavericks far less treacherous.

Surfing’s Next Olympics Home

The 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles give surfing its best shot yet at breaking through, and organizers won’t be sending it to a stadium built for the occasion. They’re sending it to Trestles Beach. 

Part of San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente, Trestles draws roughly 2.5 million visitors a year and hosts the World Surf League’s Trestles Pro every September. Known for its consistent waves and graffiti-lined pathways, it’s every bit as embedded in California culture as surfing itself.

The pitch from LA28 and California State Parks was simple: showcase the sport in a place synonymous with surf culture, not just a scenic backdrop.

Surfing spent the last 15-20 years building the infrastructure to be taken seriously as a global sport. LA28 is where that infrastructure will be put to the test.

Conservation: Surfing’s History

The surfboard carries an environmental history most people never think about.

Ancient Polynesians shaped the first boards from solid wood, which were heavy but sustainable. The 1950s brought polyurethane foam and fiberglass: lighter and more accessible, but petroleum-based and non-biodegradable. The 1980s added expanded polystyrene for even lighter boards, at a further environmental cost. The modern push toward epoxy resins, recycled foam, and bio-based materials is a direct response to that legacy.

That push now has real momentum behind it. Sustainable Surf’s Ecoboard Project is the only independent, third-party sustainability certification recognized by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association. More than 250 surfboard manufacturers are now certified under it.

Conservation Continued: Recent Shifts

Wetsuits are changing, too. One example is Patagonia’s shift to Yulex natural rubber instead of petroleum-based neoprene. This has cut CO2 emissions from manufacturing by roughly 80%. Patagonia intentionally made the material patent-free so competitors would adopt it as well.

Similarly, surfers have become some of the most vocal advocates for the coastline they depend on. The Surfrider Foundation has run decades of grassroots, volunteer-driven campaigns on clean water, plastic pollution, and beach access. These campaigns have significantly shifted consumer behavior. Surfers are seeing firsthand how much environmental damage can cost their sport every time they paddle out, and increasingly, that’s pushing them toward more sustainable products.

Another example is musician and Hawaii native Jack Johnson. Currently on tour for the first time since 2022, SURFILMUSIC combines music, film, and environmental storytelling into one experience. Johnson was a competitive surfing prodigy as a kid, and he has since gone on to direct multiple surf documentaries, blending his passion for the ocean with his creative pursuits.

The tour partners with the nonprofit REVERB to shrink its footprint. Every stop will feature a “Village Green” of local environmental nonprofits, and the tour splits $2 from every ticket between REVERB’s carbon-reduction projects and those local partners. This goes on top of net proceeds from premium ticketing, which go directly to nonprofits in each city.

Culture: Surfing as Identity

Many people who will never surf competitively, or even paddle out, still consider surfing a part of who they are.

Surfing originated in Polynesian culture thousands of years ago and became a prominent piece of Hawaiian culture, written about as early as the 18th century. It was largely suppressed by American Protestant missionaries in the 1800s before a major revival in Waikiki. 

Outrigger Canoe Club and Hui Nalu are largely credited with preserving Hawaiian culture and wave-riding. Olympic gold medalist swimmer Duke Kahanamoku is credited with introducing the sport to California and Australia.

Culture Continued: The Golden Coast

Surf communities in California are tight-knit, built on camaraderie and a shared connection to nature. They often repay the state that’s given them so much by leading cleanup efforts and fighting things like offshore drilling. It’s the laid-back, carefree lifestyle so synonymous with California that helped surf culture stick.

As the state’s official sport, surfing will have all eyes on it in 2028, and the location and momentum should help push it from newcomer to must-watch at the Games.

The sport has also become far more accessible and therapeutic along the way.

Adaptive surfing has gone from novelty to reality over the past decade. Organizations like Operation Surf run structured programs for veterans and people with disabilities, pairing adaptive equipment with community and peer support. Para USA Surfing now serves as the sport’s national governing body for competitive adaptive surfing.

These programs are generating real results. A San Diego State University study working with Operation Surf tracked 41 veterans through a weeklong surf therapy program and found decreases in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Today’s programs welcome surfers with physical disabilities, limb differences, spinal cord injuries, neurodivergence, and PTSD. These programs are steadily replacing the old idea that surfing is only for the able-bodied.

A Sport Evolved

Decades of work has earned surfing its legitimacy: an Olympic debut in Tokyo, a WSL tour that pays men and women equally, and new technology that’s made the sport safer and more accessible. The people running the sport know it deserves the same credibility and platform as any other major sport.

Conservation is where surfing started paying its bill. More eco-friendly materials are being used for equipment like boards and wetsuits, and organizations and communities are taking action to give back to the environment they’ve received so much from. 

Culture is where surfing found its actual reason for being. Adaptive surfing and therapy programs are giving veterans and people with disabilities something the competitive side of the sport never could. Communities are also leaning into their identity to help enhance the sport. 

Who wins at Trestles isn’t going to decide surfing’s next chapter. It’ll be whether the sport keeps investing in the parts of itself that don’t show up on a scoreboard.

FAQ:

1. Where did the sport of surfing first originate? Surfing is said to be a staple of ancient Polynesian culture and became popular in Hawaii hundreds of years ago.
2. How will the surfing format look during the 2028 Olympics? Surfing is tentatively scheduled over a 9 day window to account for weather. 48 total athletes (24 men and 24 women) will compete in 25-35 minute heats featuring 2-3 surfers each.
3. When did the World Surf League start? The World Surf League was originally founded as the International Professional Surfers in 1976 by Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick.
4. How does surfing scoring work? In Olympics format, five judges on a panel score each wave on a scale of one to ten. For each wave, the highest and lowest scores are discarded and an average of the remaining three scores is taken. The two highest-scoring waves are combined for an overall heat total.