Brisa on the World's Stage

Surfing made a big splash in the 2024 Summer Games at one of Earth's most notorious and consequential waves, Teahupoo, Tahiti. Nearly ten thousand miles from Paris, scenes of the world's best surfers speeding through terrifying hollow barrels stole the show and took the world by surprise. This year, surfing stood out as easily the most dangerous sport at the games and quite possibly the most dangerous on earth, with images from the channel at Teahupoo going hyper viral.

One surfer T&C is proud to see competing in the 2024 games is our very own Brisa Hennessy, who, despite a brilliant performance all the way to the semifinals, narrowly missed out on the podium. As you may know, Brisa has been with the team since early 2015 working with shapers Makani McDonald and Glenn Pang. 

Athlete: Brisa Hennessy PC: Emily Vines

Representing her home country of Costa Rica, Brisa came out swinging in round one, scoring the highest wave score of the round with a stylish no-handed backside tube-ride that earned her an 8.33, propelling her to round three and sending France’s Johanna Defay and Nicaragua’s Candelaria Resano to the elimination round.

Skipping round two, Brisa, charged up and ready to go, took on Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins. With smaller conditions on hand, the young Costa Rican was able to find two good scores, one with sharp railwork and another backside barrel ride through a closeout section, but punched out through the foam. Still, Brisa battled through the tough conditions and came out on top with a combined score of 12.34.

After going on hold for a few days, the quarterfinal saw deteriorating conditions due to a passing storm. Brisa was matched up with WCT surfer from Hawai’i, representing Brazil, Luana Silva. Not deterred by the lack of quality surf, Brisa controlled the tempo of the heat and found two decent scores to put together the win, taking her to the semifinals. 

With finals day at hand and conditions on the rise, Brisa went head to head with a surfer from Kauai, Tatiana Weston Webb, representing Brazil. With smaller but clean conditions on hand, Both competitors looked in form and laser-focused on getting to the finals. Early on in the heat, a priority mix-up caused Brisa to drop in on Tatiana, and an interference was called on the Costa Rican, costing her one of her scoring waves. Daunted but not deterred, Hennessy remained composed and still posted a 4.83 and a 6.17 on two waves. In the end, Tatiana Weston-Webb came away with the win with two great waves and a combined score of 13.66, while Brisa would surf once more in the bronze medal match. 

In the bronze medal match, Brisa would meet up with France’s Johanna Defay. Defay stayed busy and found her rhythm connecting multiple backhand hacks and snaps to a combined score of 12.66. Brisa played the patient game and waited for set waves but was unable to best Johannes's repertoire, and Defay walked away with a bronze medal, adding another to her country of France’s stellar run. 

We are beyond proud of Brisa Hennessy for continuously inspiring us in and out of the water. Her journey hasn’t always been an easy road, but her courage and determination have taken her beyond any obstacles, and that is worth more than gold.