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When surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb was first approached about which flag to represent internationally she politely demurred.
A holder of dual U.S. and Brazilian citizenship who has grown up in both cultures and speaks English and Portuguese, Weston-Webb said she told Brazilian officials she was still just trying to find her way and carve a niche on the World Surf League circuit first.
“I always wanted to be a pro surfer, but I didn’t know if it would happen. Then, it happened so quickly that I didn’t even know I’d have to (make) a decision of which country to represent,” said the WSL’s 2015 rookie of the year.
Now, with surfing’s debut in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo less than a year away and with her standing putting her in the running for an automatic berth, it has increasingly become real for Weston-Webb, the world’s eighth-ranked woman surfer who is representing Brazil.
The top eight women in the WSL championship rankings and top 10 in the men are guaranteed Olympic spots up to a maximum of two per gender per country.
“It is every child’s dream to be in the Olympics,” said Weston-Webb, who was a semifinalist in last week’s Van’s U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, Calif., where she was defeated by eventual champion Sage Erickson.
California-born Kanoa Igarashi has chosen to represent Japan, birthplace of his parents, where he has a significant following and commercial opportunities. Kailua’s Brisa Hennessy, now living in Costa Rica where she has dual citizenship, is expected to represent that country, while Maui’s Cody Young could represent Canada, where he also has citizenship.
So, when Brazilian Olympic officials came calling again last year, Weston-Webb, who was born in Brazil and has called both Kauai and Porto Alegre home with family in both places, had a decision to make.
After sitting down with her manager, the 23-year-old Weston-Webb said, “We had a talk and felt this was the best way to represent who I am.”
Her mother, Tanira Guimaraes Weston-Webb, the 1995 and ’96 Pipeline Body Board champion, is from Brazil and met Tatiana’s father, Doug, a surfer from England, while on Kauai.
Tatiana, who came to Hawaii soon after her birth, likes to say she was introduced to water sports early on since her mother was on a board while several months pregnant.
Tatiana was on a board with floaters at a young age and soon followed her brother, Troy, into surfing on Kauai.
In short order she earned a berth on the WSL tour, where she has finished in the Top 10 all four previous years.
While she has a profile here, the one in Brazil is considerable. She and her boyfriend, Brazilian surfer Jesse Mendes, have a regular lifestyle TV show and an array of sponsorships.
There is also the less-crowded path to Tokyo. While there are five Americans currently in the WSL Top 10 — Carissa Moore, Lakey Peterson, Caroline Marks, Courtney Conlogue and Malia Manuel — only one other Brazilian, 13th-ranked Silvana Lima, is even close.
“I think it was just the right decision from my point of view,” Weston-Webb said.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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