Surfer Sarah Baum says she has forever 'wanted to qualify for the Olympics'

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s pro-surfer Sarah Baum qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after participating in the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games in El Salvador, from 30 May – 7 June.

Eyewitness News took some time to get to know the Durban-born but Australian-based surfer.

“I think any athlete out of South Africa has a huge influence around the world. I feel we are very proud of where we come from and that shows in every sport as well as a never-give-up attitude.”
Baum said qualifying for the games was a dream come true, especially after missing out on qualifying for Tokyo in 2020.

“Ever since I could remember I loved watching all the athletes at the Olympic Games, and at the time, we never would have thought that surfing would be a part of it. So for me now to be one of those athletes that will be a part of the Olympic Games is an absolute dream come true. I missed out on the opportunity to qualify for the previous games in Japan so to qualify for Paris is a dream come true.”

READ: SA surfers Smith and Baum qualify for Paris 2024 at World Surfing Games

South Africa’s Jordy Smith and Baum both qualified as the top-ranked male and female athletes from Africa.

Baum finished 10th in the WSL Challenger Series this year and is South Africa’s top competitor for 2022.
“My family loved going to the beach every chance we could, so I grew up loving and learning about the ocean from a very young age. My dad loves surfing and stood me on a board when I was three and then at the age of 8, I learnt how to surf and my career took off from there,” said Baum.

The former Ballito Pro winner started competing internationally when she was 14 years old and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Championship Tour at 17 years old.

“My next event will be the WSL Challenger Series event in Ballito, Durban. There are a few small improvements. One would be to make sure I am catching more waves in a heat to ensure I have enough opportunity for myself in such a short time frame.”

The 29-year-old said the surfing fraternity to ensure remuneration equity between women and men. She added that she would be happy to see a closure of the gender pay gap across all sporting codes. “I know in some less fortunate countries this is still a problem, and they do not enforce equal pay. I would like to see this enforced in all sports.”
She told Eyewitness News that though the number of women competing as surfers increased, there were fewer opportunities for them to qualify compared to their male counterparts.

“On the World Surf League, the tour is made up of 36 men and 18 women. Personally, the number of women should be increased somewhat. Women’s surfing is growing rapidly and at the moment it is a lot harder for women to qualify because of the minimal space available on tour.”

Paris 2024 will see a total of 48 athletes competing, 24 in the women's competition and 24 in the men's. This means a total of eight more surfers compared to Tokyo 2020.

On the development of surfing in SA Baum said: “South Africa is lacking majorly in this area, and we can’t expect the development of younger surfers wanting to pursue the sport professionally without the practice and exposure that surfing competitions will bring.”