Canada’s biggest hope for an Olympic surfing medal has a problem: she’s not Canadian yet

Many in Canadian Olympic circles are predicting big things in Paris for teen surfing sensation Erin Brooks. The only problem is that Brooks is not a Canadian citizen and is currently ineligible to represent Canada on the Olympic stage.

Brooks has received a lot of media attention in recent years, quickly rising through the ranks and making a name for itself in the surfing world and beyond. In recent years, she has competed in international events under the Canadian flag, including earlier this month when she won a silver medal at the world championship in El Salvador. All coverage of her success, including articles written on the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) website, states that the 15-year-old has dual Canadian citizenship.

In reality, Brooks has been given waivers to compete for Canada at these competitions, with assurances that her pending citizenship application will likely succeed. Such an exemption is not possible for the Olympic Games or the Pan Am Games.

“I’m just focused on competition,” 15-year-old Brooks told CBC Sports. “Citizenship is something my dad and other people can take care of. I just focus on surfing.”

For the past three years, with help from the COC and Surf Canada, Brooks’ family has been trying to convince the Canadian government to grant Canadian citizenship to the surfing phenomenon.

“We’re definitely getting closer to the wire. I just hope it happens. It would be great to have her on Team Canada,” COC CEO David Shoemaker told CBC. “We support her application. We believe she would be a great addition to Team Canada, not only because of her potential to compete at the highest level and compete for a medal, but also because of her ability to inspire young Canadian women. “

“We continue to work to formalize Erin’s Canadian citizenship and it is her preference to surf Canada, although others have tried to recruit her,” said Lionel Conacher, president of Surf Canada. “She feels her roots and her future are in Canada and she hopes to make Canada proud at the 2024 Games.”

Brooks was born and raised in Texas before moving to Hawaii to further her surfing career, but she does have Canadian connections. She still has an extended family living in Canada, mostly in the Montreal area.

Her grandparents were born in Quebec before moving to California. Her mother is German, but her father, Jeff, was born in the US and was eligible for dual citizenship under Canadian law at the time.

Those rules have since changed and Erin has had to take a different path to citizenship. She applied directly to Canada’s Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, who could offer her an exemption and grant citizenship on the basis that Brooks has exemplary or exceptional value to Canada.

Canadian sports officials say Brooks is a once in a generation athlete.

“She’s an absolute stage threat in Tahiti,” said Dom Domic, Surf Canada’s executive director. “Without a doubt, she’s in the top three on the planet when you talk about the kind of conditions we’re going to see in Tahiti. [where the Paris Olympics competition will be held.]”

Jeff Brooks says his daughter is Canada’s top medal contender in surfing.

“There are other Canadian surfers and some really good ones, but she’s Canada’s best shot at medals at the next Olympics and she’s proven to be one of the best surfers in the world, and there’s definitely an advantage to what she can bring , ” he said.

Brooks and her family say they are determined to fight for Canada. They say it’s not about finding an easier path to the Olympics in a country that isn’t a traditional surfing powerhouse.

“I want to inspire young Canadian girls to surf. There are great waves here in Canada,” Erin said. “I want people to get out there, have fun and just chase their dreams.”

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Jeff Brooks says other countries have pursued his daughter to compete for them in the Olympics, including the United States, Italy and Germany.

“All those countries would bring her more fame and more money,” he said. “She’s surfing to Canada because she wants to for her family, not because it’s a huge benefit to her to be associated with Canada.

“The appeal is that she’s been able to do a lot of things that have never been done before for someone competing internationally for Canada.”

The clock is ticking. Brooks needs her citizenship for the Pan Am Games, which will take place in Chile at the end of October and which is one of the last direct qualifiers for the Olympics.

“There’s a sequence that has to happen,” Shoemaker said. “We don’t have a year, let’s put it that way, to fix this.”

The decision is taken solely by the minister, who has had her application for almost three years. In a statement to CBC, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it was unable to comment on the application due to privacy laws.

Warren Creates, an Ottawa immigration lawyer not directly involved in the case, says waivers on these grounds are “extremely rare” and an “uphill battle” in his experience.

“It’s a very high bar. Yes, the minister has this discretion, but they have to use it wisely and in a balanced way, not arbitrarily,” Creates said. “Just because a petition has been signed by 10,000 people saying that this person should be a citizen so they can compete in an international competition in the Canadian colors, there has been a very responsible consideration by senior departmental officials before recommending a minister for such a case.”