Surfing
Surfing
Carissa Moore: Top career moments
Read ahead for a guide to the top Carissa Moore moments, from the start of her career to her latest wins.
It seems like Carissa Moore was born to surf. The Hawaii-born athlete has been on the board from a young age, racking up World Titles left and right since her career began. The one-time Olympic gold medalist is clear, though: Natural abilities aside, it took her tons of dedication and practice to get here. She hopes to show others that you can get anywhere if you’re willing to put in the effort.
Carissa Moore in Tahiti
© Ben Thouard / Red Bull Content Pool
"It's my hope that anyone who's young and chasing their dreams knows that anything is possible if they work hard and put their heart and mind to it," she says.
Moore has been putting her heart and mind fully into her craft since she was a preteen. From her multiple championship wins to her philanthropic work empowering aspiring surfers, she continues to charm the world in and beyond the water.
01
Early life and career beginnings
Moore has spent most of her life in the water. The highly decorated professional surfer started riding the waves at just 5 years old as a shared hobby with her dad. She was born and raised in Honolulu, so she had the privilege of riding some of the best waves in the world off Waikiki Beach. As time went on, her father recognized his daughter had quite a talent for surfing. Moore describes how her father sparked the idea of going pro.
Young Carissa Moore, ready for the waves
© Chris Moore
“By the time I was 12, we had a more serious conversation, saying, ‘Is this something I really want to do?’” Moore says. “I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work, but I also knew it would be really fun.”
Moore’s father soon went from surfing buddy to official coach. As a former competitive swimmer, he encouraged his daughter to dream big and be relentless in competition. That fighting spirit would lead the amateur surfer to her first of several titles.
Moore landed her first National Scholastic Surfing Association win in 2004. To date, Moore holds the record for most NSSA Nationals wins, with 11 titles to her name. The following year, she helped lead the Hawaiian team to their first-ever International Surfing Association (ISA) World Junior Surfing Championship victory. By age 16, she was the youngest to win first place at the Reef Hawaiian Pro’s Triple Crown of Surfing. From there, her meteoric rise only accelerated.
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World Championship wins
Moore celebrates her third WSL World Championship in 2015
© Shutterstock
World Tour beginnings
Moore’s legacy with the World Surf League World Championship Tour predates even the WSL name. She made her first appearance at the former Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour in 2007 at the Women’s World Tour Roxy Pro event. As a wildcard contestant, she was the youngest surfer to compete in a Final ASP World Title event up to that point. (Her fellow Red Bull surfer Caroline Marks currently holds the record for youngest competitor to qualify for the WSL World Tour.)
In 2009, Moore once again joined ASP as a wildcard and took first place at the Gidget Pro Sunset Beach event. In 2010, Moore qualified for her first full season on the ASP World Tour. After three ASP event wins, including the Rip Pro Curl Portugal, Moore placed third overall before earning the title of 2010 Rookie of the Year. The following year, Moore earned the first of her World Titles after three first-place wins at events in Brazil and Australia.
Five-time WSL Champion
Carissa Moore
© Red Bull Content Pool
Over the next decade, Moore would appear on the World Tour nearly every year and constantly pull off exciting championship moments. She landed her second and third WSL crowns in 2013 and 2015 after sweeping the competition in four events each year. In 2019, Moore once again took the World Title, making a splash at events in France and South Africa. In 2021, she narrowly beat Tatiana Weston-Webb at the Rip Curl WSL Finals.
Today, Moore has the honor of being a five-time WSL World Champion, and the odds are in her favor to keep adding to that number. One of her most iconic WSL wins happened just recently at the 2023 Margaret River Pro. When it seemed like first place might go to Lakey Peterson, the Australian waters offered Moore the perfect tube in time to clinch victory.
Signature moves and style
Moore’s surfing mission isn’t to conquer the biggest swell on the shore. As she told Red Bull while looking back on a scrapbook full of memories of her career, “I’m not a big wave surfer.” She’s happy to ride moderate height crests where she can show off moves such as the layback jam, which is her signature.
The layback jam involves a close, quick turn on the lip of a wave. To perform this move, Moore positions her body so that her weight is mostly on her back foot. She keeps her balance by putting her left arm in the air and her right arm in the water. From there, she brings her board underneath her, cruising the rail and riding to victory.
Not every wave is right for pulling off a layback jam. But when a wave forms that’s just steep enough without breaking on the head, Moore knows she’ll get the speed she needs.
Personal achievements and records
Carissa Moore surfs at Haleiwa, Hawaii
© Ryan Miller / Red Bull Content Pool
Moore’s career has earned her lots of recognition outside competitions, including a place among National Geographic’s 2011 Adventurers of the Year. She was inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame at age 21, the same year Hawaii honored her by naming January 4th “Carissa Moore Day.” Following an eventful win on the world stage, Honolulu presented Moore with keys to the city.
As a longtime trailblazer for women in surfing, Moore also made history in 2009 when she graced the cover of Surfer Magazine. She was only the fourth-ever woman to get a front-page athlete profile in the magazine. Moore has remained committed to opening doors for the generations of women surfers following in her footsteps.
One of Moore’s greatest personal achievements is the launch of her non-profit, Moore Aloha. Launched in 2018, the 501(c)(3) is dedicated to empowering young women in the water and elsewhere. The foundation holds three to four events annually where participants come together to learn mindful habits and make lifelong friendships. As Moore told People Magazine, the foundation’s mission is to help young women connect with those who will inspire them to reach their full potential.
"One of the things that Moore Aloha really tries to encourage is community and finding those other women that you can go out with and that will empower you and encourage you to step outside your comfort zone," she says.
Moore’s biggest achievements can’t be hung on a wall
Given her impressive records and wins, it’s no wonder Moore has become such a big name in modern surfing. At the end of the day, though, Moore’s greatest achievement isn’t all the World Championship titles — it’s the people she’s met along the way. As she told Red Bull, the friendships she’s made are what matter most.
“When this is all said and done,” she says, “all the friends I’ve made, from traveling and competing, is what will last forever.”
