Sophia Medina repeats her brother’s feats and accelerates her surfing trajectory at 16

Surfer Sophia Medina is amused to say that she was “practically born at sea”. Sister of three-time world champion Gabriel, she grew up with an example at her side that it was possible to aspire to great achievements and is taking increasingly firm steps to build her own trajectory in the sport.

At the age of 16, Sophia won a 3,000-point QS (Qualifying Series) stage on the 21st in Saquarema (RJ), which is part of the WSL (World Surf League) access circuit in Latin America. The victory left her at the top of the regional qualifying ranking for the Challenger Series 2022, the last gateway to the world elite on the CT (Championship Tour).

The teenager was born and raised in Maresias, on São Sebastião beach, on the north coast of São Paulo. In 2009, when she was 4 years old, Gabriel Medina at 15 became the youngest surfer to win a WSL stage in Florianópolis. His and Brazil’s first world title in CT would come in 2014.

The Saquarema stage was not the first time that Sophia repeated her brother’s precocious conquest. In 2018, aged 12, she took the under-16 category title at the Rip Curl Grom Search event, which he won in 2010.

“Great people’s victory, pride! First victory in the WQS, I can’t help remembering when I started! I love you”, wrote Gabriel on social media to celebrate his sister’s latest achievement.

“My first reference in surfing was Gabriel. I saw everything he did and he was close by”, Sophia tells sheet. “I’ve always looked to him for inspiration and I also wanted to win the first new QS because it’s a really big step in his career. That’s when you really see you’re capable of winning big championships.”

In addition to the fraternal reference, she celebrates having women as role models. In this list are Hawaiian Carissa Moore, five-time world champion and gold medalist in the sport’s Olympic debut, and the last Brazilian women to join the WSL elite, Silvana Lima and Tatiana Weston-Webb.

“Today women’s surfing is taking a very important place, and the level is rising in Brazil. There is a great generation of girls my age. I want to be better than them, they want to be better than me, and in this competitive world one ends up being inspiration for the other,” he says.

Laura Raupp, who at 15 years old also won a QS stage (1,000 points) in November, and Bela Nalu, 14, are part of this new and promising group of girls.

Charles Saldanha, Sophia’s father and coach, sees Tatiana, 25, Silvana, 37, and Jacqueline Silva, 42, all world runners-up, as isolated talents, “pearls” who have defied the odds to conquer their place in the elite in recent decades. .

He believes that in the coming years, for the first time, a group of Brazilian surfers will be able to rise at the same time, as happened with the male generation that earned the nickname “brazilian storm” (Brazilian storm) and took 5 of the last 7 titles in the CT.

“They arrived surfing better than the gringos and that’s why they gained respect. It’s no use having a name and a flag, you have to get there and show your service. Surfing is an exhibitionist sport, if you don’t show that you surf well, it’s no use arriving thinking you’ll win “he says.

With Sophia, the coach relives moments of a trajectory similar to the one traveled alongside Gabriel, who was raised by him since childhood and who coached him until 2019.

“She started going to the water very early, but to play. Up until about 10 years old, she played soccer, was in the boys’ team and also surfed, but surfing is a sport in which children begin to develop a little later , because there is a certain danger. Until you ask her what she wants to dedicate herself to, and for our happiness she wanted to surf”, says her father.

Charles does not see many differences in the working methods applied with Sophia and Gabriel. He considers it positive that his daughter started training at an early age at the institute that bears the name of the three-time champion — currently, the entity is disabled amid family conflicts.

“She was molded as an athlete, with a physical trainer, a coach, in the same way that other boys at the institute and that the children who are surfing end up having today. She started to have a professional life early on, training four hours a day and competing” , explains.

In his projection, if Sophia confirms entry into the Challenger Series in 2022, it will still take around three years to be able to win a spot in CT. He remembers that in Gabriel’s case it took two and a half years for that.

“It may be a little sooner or later, but I believe that in three years she will be able to enter the elite and, then yes, set a goal to be world champion. If you don’t seek first place, you won’t even be fifth”, he points out with the same ambition that makes a surfer’s eyes shine.

As Charles always traveled with Gabriel on the world circuit, Sophia was also coached by Gilmar Moura, who remains on the team. Since last year, when conflicts between the Medinas erupted, the father has dedicated himself exclusively to his daughter’s career.

“It was really cool to be able to stay with Sophia more when she needed it most. After the athlete is already trained, champion, you will give more moral encouragement than a coach, but at this time of training it is important to have someone on your side “, it says.

The 2021 to be celebrated by the brothers at sea coincided with a delicate period in personal relationships. During the year, several reports about the surfer’s conflicts and his wife, Yasmin Brunet, with his mother, Simone, made the news.

Sophia says that she continues to talk normally with Gabriel and marked her brother’s profile in the publication in which she celebrated the achievement of the QS. Charles, Simone’s husband, also prefers to dedicate a few words to the topic.

“The only thing I can say is that there’s a lot of gossip there, but it’s okay with us. People are worried for nothing. We’re sad, but I’m not going to answer gossip. I’m not a gossip. We’re athletes, coaches, a people live off the sport,” he ends.