Thousand Oaks, Calif. (February 27, 2018) – The top-ranked U.S. Olympic hopeful surfers are meeting in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for a two-day evaluation and planning session with the nation’s leading experts in sports performance and exercise science. The athletes include: Lakey Peterson, Caroline Marks, Courtney Conlogue, Kolohe Andino, Zeke Lau, Griffin Colapinto, Sebastian Zietz, and Seth Moniz. See schedule below.
“Our surfers are ready to charge into the Olympic qualifying season with every possible edge we can give them,” said USA Surfing CEO Greg Cruse. “We are stoked to bring together the top minds in surfing at a state-of-the-art facility. This is a momentous time for surfing and sport.”
The Feb. 27 and 28 prep session will take place at the Mamba Sports Academy, where manager of sports performance research & analytics Tracy Ann Axel and USA Surfing medical director Kevyn Dean conducted the first surf-specific exercise science research in North America. Mamba Sports Academy co-owner, Olympian and Laker legend Kobe Bryant will kick off the session by sharing his experience competing on the Olympic stage in basketball and what it takes to deliver peak performances. The Mamba Sports Academy is an elite training ground for organizations like the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, Olympic volleyball and more.
“This is an exciting time for surfing as they prepare to bring their mastery to the global stage at the Olympic Games,” said Bryant. “Competing at this level is not just about training the body, but also training for the mental and emotional challenges that accompany the Olympic journey. I’ve lived through this experience twice and look forward to passing any knowledge along to help them bring home the gold.”
“Team USA surf athletes are so impressive with strong coaches and an elite training regimen, but the job of preparing for peak performance at the Olympic level is a new one,” said USA Surfing medical director Kevyn Dean. “The science and evidence base for surf training is fairly new compared to other sports, so we have the opportunity to really elevate our game.”
The surfers will go through a battery of baseline measurements in functional range conditioning, dynamic neuromuscular stabilization, explosive force, strength, stamina, nutrition, training and rehab practices and more. The information will be used to develop an integrated action plan for each athlete with support from leading experts in sports psychology, nutrition, movement analysis, training and wave forecasting.
Dean would like to see the sport of surfing get better at getting better — more science, more measurement, more intention. He is particularly excited about the use of force plate technology – a sensor-loaded platform capable of measuring an athlete’s strength and power, combined with movement analysis. Both have the potential to push performances, while preventing injuries, as outlined in Olympic Surfing: A Progress Report.
The top two women and top two men at the end of the World Surf League season in December will qualify for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. There are also two ISA events that are considered prerequisites on the path to the July 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo:
Greg Cruse said these events provide an opportunity to showcase the sport and its exceptional athletes leading up to surfing’s Olympic debut in July 2020.
Contact: becky (at) usasurfing (dot) org
USA Surfing is the National Governing Body for surfing in the United States, recognized by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). USA Surfing’s mission is to promote and grow the sport of surfing and support United States athletes of all backgrounds to achieve sustained competitive excellence in Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American competition. USA Surfing will oversee and support America’s Olympic team as surfing makes its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and surfing and stand-up paddleboarding athletes compete in the 2019 Pan American Games.
Olympic Training Prep Schedule
February 27
8:30 – 9:30 Media availability/photo opp
Olympic hopeful surfers: Caroline Marks, Courtney Conlogue, Lakey Peterson, Griffin Colapinto, Kolohe Andino, Zeke Lau, Seth Moniz, Sebastian Zietz
USA Surfing High Performance Support Team:
USA Surfing CEO Greg Cruse
Kevyn Dean, MSPT, OCS, USA Surfing medical director
Dr. Warren Kramer, Orthopedic surgeon and medical director for the WSL
Dr. Tim Brown, Chiropractor, co-Medical director WSL, Northern Hemisphere
Tracy Axel, manager of sports performance research & analytics, Mamba Sports Academy
Dr. Michael Rintala, Chiropractor, Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) instructor
Peter Park, trainer
Dr. Su Wang, DPT, OCS, CSCS, Movement Specialists Physical Therapy
Kaleigh Gilchrist, Olympic champion (water polo) and professional surfer
Brett Simpson, assistant coach, USA Surfing
Chris Gallagher Stone, head coach, USA Surfing
Karen Cogan, Sr. sports psychologist, United States Olympic Committee
9:30 – 10:30 Kobe Bryant Q&A with Olympic hopefuls
10:30 Team photos
11:00 Surfline’s Director of Forecasting, Kevin Wallis, presents data and analysis of
Chiba, Japan surf conditions – the venue for surfing’s Olympic Games debut
12:00 Lunch discussion with USOC sports psychologist Dr. Karen Cogan
& water polo Olympic gold medalist and surfer Kaleigh Gilchrist
1:00 Force plate testing - a sensor-loaded platform capable of measuring an
athlete’s strength and power
3:30 – 4:30 Athletic performance baseline testing
5:30 Wrap up discussion/feedback/planning
February 28
7:00 Bod pod testing to measure body composition
8:00 Athlete testing, including:
*athletes will rotate through these stations.
12:30 Lunch and wellness presentation with Tracy Axel
1:30 – 4:00 Continue testing from morning session
5:00 Closing remarks and send off
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