Crouch Surfs to Spot in ISA Junior Worlds
Last winter, Brock Crouch (Mammoth Mountain, CA) burst on to the international snowboarding scene with a World Cup win at the Olympic test event in PyeongChang, South Korea. But Crouch is trading his snowboard for a surfboard next week to compete at the 2016 International Surfing Association (ISA) World Junior Surfing Championships in Azores, Portugal.
Born and raised in Carlsbad, CA, Crouch grew up with the beach in his backyard. His family moved up to Mammoth Mountain for the winter months so he could work on his snowboarding, but Crouch has consistently spent his summers surfing since he was 12 years old.
“I just love being at the beach and in the ocean,” said Crouch. “If you’re having a bad day, you can just head down to the beach and surf with your friends. It’s a great community.”
Crouch has posted multiple podium finishes at Western Surfing Association (WSA) and National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) events, including a second place finish in the NSSA West Coach Explorer Championships in May 2016. That result helped land him a spot on the eight-man team heading to Portugal to compete in one of the summer Olympic games’ newest sports. In addition to being an alternate for the men’s team, Brock will also compete in the team challenge competition.
A multi-sport athlete, Crouch spends time on the snow and in the water in his home state of California.
“I’m just gunna go heat by heat and see what happens,” said Crouch.
After his very successful 2016 season on snow, Crouch has his sights set on an Olympic bid in 2018. But surfing has been, and will continue to be, a significant part of his life.
“I’ve started to take the winters a lot more seriously as we’ve gotten closer to the Winter Olympics,” said Crouch. “I’d love to keep doing what I’m doing and getting decent results in the surf contests, but making it to the Olympics for snowboarding is definitely more realistic right now.”
Spring dayzZ @zachhooperphoto #insight #transworldsnowboarding
A photo posted by Brock Crouch (@brockcrouch99) on
So, after 2018, will Crouch try to snag a spot at the 2020 summer games in Tokyo, where surfing is set to make its Olympic debut?
“Yeah, maybe,” said Crouch. “That would be awesome actually.”
To follow Crouch and the rest of Team USA at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships, visit isaworlds.com.
Brock Crouch
Brock Crouch from Mammoth Lakes, California is a multi athlete competitor. Not only has he made his mark in the world of snowboarding, but he is also a semi-pro surfer and avid skateboarder. Brock started snowboarding from the young age of three and was impressively entering the USASA slopestyle, rail jam, and half pipe contests at the age of six.