Four hopeful French surfers are set to launch in Australia this Saturday for the start of the Surf Championship Tour. Among them are newcomers Kauli Vaast, Olympic champion, and Tya Zebrowski, only 15 years old.
After battling for several years in the Challenger Series, the equivalent of the second world division, the 24-year-old Tahitian secured his spot on the CT in early March, realizing his second “childhood dream”.
His first? Winning at home on his Teahupo’o wave, an unprecedented Olympic gold medal for French surfing, which he brilliantly achieved two years ago after a highly competitive competition.
“It was difficult to transition from the energy of the Olympics to the pace of the circuit. I worked hard, but qualifying for the CT has always been one of my main goals,” Vaast recalled, who will wear the number 24 in memory of his golden summer.
Vaast hopes to kick off the season well at Bells Beach in Australia, the first of twelve CT stages that will conclude in Hawaii in December. Each round will allow him to earn points in hopes of finishing with the prestigious status of “Rookie of the Year”.
He would succeed his compatriot and close friend Marco Mignot, 25, who has been well established in the elite since 2025 and hopes to do even better at the start of this new season.
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“I am here to become world champion. That’s my ultimate goal. Whether it’s this year or in two or three years, it doesn’t matter. I work every day for it,” he recently explained to the French Surf Federation (FFS).
The French team has two representatives among the women. Vahine Fierro, 26, and already a titleholder from a CT stage as a wildcard at Teahupo’o, retained her place among the elite last year.
She will be joined by Tya Zebrowski, a prodigy at just 15, the youngest female surfer in history to join the CT after a successful season in the elite’s waiting room (generally first, with a stage victory in Ericeira).
Licensed in Hossegor but residing near Teahupo’o for much of the year, where she has been surfing since she was eight, Zebrowski is touted as one of the future big stars of the discipline.
The French team already had four representatives on the pro tour in 2019, with experienced athletes (Johanne Defay, Jérémy Florès, Michel Bourez, and Joan Duru). But the current generation is younger on average and may harbor even higher ambitions.
“I think this generation has realized they have a place. The French are no longer afraid of others. Jérémy Florès and Michel Bourez paved the way with their results,” emphasized Joan Duru, now coach of the French team.
However, the road ahead is littered with obstacles. Brazilian Gabriel Medina, a three-time world champion, is making a big comeback to the circuit, while American Carissa Moore, after a maternity break, seems determined to reign once again among the women.
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