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Should Surfing be in the Olympics?

Should Surfing Be in the Olympics?

Surfing has been a part of my life since I was extremely young, and because of this, it holds an extraordinary place in my heart.  There is just nothing like the taste of the saltwater and getting up a surfing a wave.  I started surfing when I was about five years old, and ever since then, I lived in the ocean. I always saw it as a competition, seeing who can catch the best wave and who can ride it the best. I was still interested in being able to perform tricks and mastering how to ride individual waves. It is a very technical sport, similar to skating and snowboarding. Snowboarding is the most similar and, as many know have always been in the Winter Olympics.  It has drawn in many great athletes such as Sean White and brought in a significant amount of popularity to the Olympics world round. Because of this popularity, many feel that Surfing deserves to be in the summer Olympics. There are many great athletes all around the globe, such as John John Florence and Kelly Slater, who have always advocated for making surfing an Olympic sport. Taking it all in, I am a massive advocate with believing Surfing should be in the summer Olympics.

  One reason I believe surging should be in the Summer Olympics is that it involves both genders. Every Olympic sport is split by genders and has a gender counterpart. For example, hockey has both men's hockey and female hockey.  If the current layout is used from the surfing world championships, the competition would have both men and female Surfing. Many famous female surfers advocate for this, such as Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons. "Surfing is truly a global sport, more popular and more widely practiced than many current Olympic sports. Surfing is pursued in every corner of the world, in more than a hundred countries. There are now over 35 million surfers worldwide! Surfers are a strong and positive influence on young people around the world. They are a very relevant part of our youth culture and serve as inspirational figures, naturally representing Olympic values.", wrote Aguerre. Many other lead female surfers have come out expressing the same opinions.  They believe that it will bring even more attention to the sport and will be suitable for women in the Olympics. Women in sports are especially important in the political world we live in today. Women in sports are significant in making the world an equal place.  It will allow little girls to grow up dreaming about becoming Olympic surfers an actual reality, and it will give them more female leaders to look up to and be inspired to try surfing themselves. Introducing a sport that involves both genders would be a great addition to the Olympics.

Another reason Surfing should be in the Olympics is that it is already a profound sport around the world.  It is widely popular in the United States, along with Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, and many more. Popularity takes out the question that commonly arises when talking about adding baseball and softball to the Olympics.  Baseball and softball have always been mainstream sports, but have been subjugated due to a lack of worldwide popularity. Surfing is extremely popular and well-watched on tv and streaming services such as YouTube. Studies have shown growth in Surfing has spiked in popularity since 2002.  An article on Surfer Today, one of the most popular used surfing blogs, said that. "Surfing is one of the most popular water sports on the planet. And, who knows, probably the number one water sport on the planet."

With statements like this, many people question where the proof to back it up is? A recent survey came out showing that the popularity is, in fact, genuine. In America, there are 13.5 million surfers, in Oceania 6.5 million surfers, in Asia 6 million surfers, in Europe, 4.5 million surfers, and in Africa, 4.5 million surfers.  These numbers beat other Olympic sports like curling by a mile. This leads to the question of why has surging not been in the Olympics?  The reason is most likely due to the location. Summer Olympics will need to be centered around beaches and, in particular, beaches with waves. The ocean is exceptionally unpredictable and is entirely unpredictable. Some days huge swells are bringing in high tides and others where it is very choppy or flat, and you can not ride the waves.  This will cause a rush to get the surfing event done with on the best possible day, leading for it to be incredibly crammed in.  From personal experience, swells are very inconsistent, and the forecast is often incorrect.  This is an issue that even effects professional surfing competitions.  This is why they are usually located in Indonesia, California, or Hawaii.  These locations are often very consistent and have some of the best swells in the country.  Sadly, the Olympics can not be held here every single time as they are already scheduled down the road for locations such as Japan, Paris, and many other countries.  This brings up the issue of if the area can host the competition.  If Surfing is labeled as a major Olympic sport down the road, the scheduled places will have to have right surfing spots; however, can the already scheduled spots host it?  It is believed that Japan can as they get a proper amount of swells, and technology is already being developed to assist in helping the prediction of the swells. Even so, this will always be an issue if Surfing is made an Olympic Sport.  However, if it is just scheduled for the best day of the week using forecasting and using a consistent location, these issues can be overcome with ease.  Another possible solution is Kelly Slatter’s idea of using surfing pools.  This idea completely relies on technology but would create the most balanced playing field.  This does take out some of the competition of finding the best wave, but it would work if possible.  So to end this point, Surfing is a worldwide sport and is very popular in a ton of countries and with current selections can easily be added to the Olympics.

Another bonus to Surfing being added to the Olympics is that it will bring a new sport and bring in an even bigger crowd. As previously discussed Surfing is a prevalent worldwide sport. It is estimated that "1.6 billion people love watching, or reading Twitter feeds, about Surfing! 1.6 billion, or as Stu Nettle points out, over 1/5 of the earth's population." This is an outstanding amount of people that watch the sport, topping a lot of games that are currently in both the Winter and Summer Olympics.  So the question of if Surfing is big enough to add to the Olympics is out of the problem as it is one of the biggest sports in the world.  This alone will bring in a massive payday for the Olympics; however, individual faces such as John John Florence will bring I'm the biggest payday.  John John Florence is arguably the most famous surfer worldwide as he has over 1.3 million followers on Instagram alone. For an athlete that is an insane amount to have on social media, it is sure to bring in many fans.  As for the female aspect, Sally Fitzgibbons has about 600 thousand followers on Instagram.  Six hundred thousand is another large amount of followers, considering the sport does not get a more substantial amount of coverage.  This situation would be a win-win for both the athletes and the Olympics.  The Olympics would be able to cover these athletes in-depth, and in return, the athletes would get a boost in followers to help grow their careers even more.  Along with athletes, Surfing also has many sponsors that would benefit the Olympics even more.  Major companies such as Red Bull Billabong, Rip Curl, Quicksilver, Vans, and many more would swarm around these events.  The coverage would be very well, and each professional surfer would likely bring in many of these major sponsors.  Considering all of this, Surfing would increase the amount of money, viewers, and followers for both the Olympics and the surfers would make. 

Overall, Surfing would be a fantastic addition to the Olympics and should seriously be considered for the next upcoming Summer Olympics.  It will firmly grab the attention of people who are fans of the sport and people who are interested in it.  It will give the competition an even more mainstream platform and allow people to look up to many role models in the game thoroughly.  It is also a prevalent worldwide sport, drawing in fans and athletes from all across the so the viewer total will be extremely high.  And on top of this, it will also bring in many companies who sponsor many prominent named athletes who presumably will compete in the Olympics.  It is also prevalent among both genders, making the sport respect equality, as both male and female events will get the same amount of viewers.  In summation, adding Surfing to the Summer Olympics would be a fantastic decision that would benefit everyone with very little to no downside.