Surfing
Train Like a Pro: Caroline Marks
The youngest surfer ever to qualify for the Championship Tour, Caroline Marks, 18, reveals how she prepares for competition at the sport’s highest level.
To earn a high score from the judges, Marks must flow seamlessly through a series of powerful turns, performing a fast-moving dance across the wave’s face as churning white water explodes behind her.
She uses her strong, compact body to spin her surfboard into a tight arc, throw her fins up through the surface of the wave’s crest or launch herself into the air. So far, so good: In 2018 the World Surf League named her Rookie of the Year. "All these girls are my heroes and I’ve looked up to them since I started surfing,” she says. “Now I just want to beat them.”
SPEED
"I do tons of footwork to keep me fast."
"Ideally, I surf and do gym work each day—that’s where I work on balance and fitness. Let’s say I’m going to a long point break like Jeffreys Bay. I have to make the first turn as strong as the last turn. It’s really hard to do, because my legs get tired. Sometimes, I have to surf four heats in a day, and I obviously can’t just stop. There’s a big agility ladder at my gym and I try to keep my feet going as fast as I can. I want to keep my heart rate up as long as possible. It’s a lot of fast-twitch motions, too."
MENTAL FOCUS
"You have to be ready to go with the flow."
"I don’t like to overthink things. I just try to keep it simple. As a surfer, it’s hard to make a game plan, because you never know how the waves are going to be. I have to be on it even when I’m fatigued during a heat. At the gym, I stand on a balance ball on one leg. My trainer will throw a medicine ball to me and I have to catch it one-handed. He doesn’t tell me which side he’s throwing to. It’s super random. A lot of the most important work is done before the contest even starts."
NUTRITION
"I pretty much eat whatever I want to eat."
"I just did some tests with Red Bull because I want to learn more about what I should eat. If I eat something in the morning and I win, then I’ll eat that again. Avocado toast is my go-to in the morning right now. I just do a piece of organic toast, avocado, salt and pepper, and cherry tomatoes. I definitely bring snacks like trail mix and protein bars everywhere I go. I don’t have set things I have to have. If I really want avocado and turkey on a rice cake, I’ll have that."
Caroline Marks
© Dustin Snipes/Red Bull Content Pool
FLEXIBILITY
"I have to make sure to stretch every day."
"I try to surf four hours a day minimum—it’s a really good work-out that makes you use your whole body constantly! I stand really low on my board and I’m always using my legs. They get tight, but fortunately rolling out with the foam roller helps. I’m still young and I don’t feel pain or anything, but I want to avoid that. Being flexible also makes my turns better. I stretch my whole body and use the roller just about everywhere."
PADDLING MAKES PERFECT
"I have to be in great paddling shape, and you can’t get that unless you surf a lot. If it’s flat, I find it’s super good to bring out a bigger board and go for a long paddle. That helps me stay in paddle shape."
