Yes, Mrs. Moore had an extra passenger on board while charging tubes at Teahupo’o this summer. Photo: ISA
Carissa Moore is a serious competitor. You don’t become a five-time world champ and Olympic gold medalist without drive, talent, and a competitive spirit. But the native Hawaiian is so much more than just an athlete. She’s an active member in her community. She’s a caring friend, daughter, and wife. And come February, with the arrival of her daughter, Moore will officially be a mom.
In 2024, with the conclusion of the Pipe Pro, Moore announced that she was stepping away from the Championship Tour. After 13 years, many guessed that Moore’s plan was to focus on the upcoming Olympic Games and potentially start a family. Shortly after the Olympics, Moore announced her pregnancy, leaving the math savvy among us to calculate that she’d competed at Teahupo’o when she was three months pregnant. A month later, Moore competed in the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Championships Trophy in pumping conditions.
I caught up with Moore six months into her pregnancy and asked her about all of it, and whether we’ll ever see her compete again.
When you announced that you were stepping away from tour was your plan to start trying for a family? Or were you just focused on the Olympics?
When I made the announcement and decision earlier this year, I was invested in wanting to do well in the Olympics and taking the time away from competing full-time to spend time in Tahiti and put all my effort into training at Teahupo’o. That was where my head was at. But we knew at some point this year we also wanted to start trying for a family.
The CT is often referred to as the Dream Tour. But it’s a grind. What are some of the less glamorous aspects of it?
It is such an incredible lifestyle and way to make a living. I’m super grateful that I got to do it for 13 years. But competing at that intensity year after year, it can be really taxing, mentally and physically. I really struggled getting off the treadmill because even though we had a lot longer off season the last two years, I gave myself maybe a couple weeks, but then it’s back to work if you want to be at the top.
It’s also rare for all the conditions to come together during an event, so most of the time you’re having to compete in less-than-ideal conditions. Everyone tries their best to capitalize on a great swell and good winds but sometimes it just doesn’t come together, and you have to surf a few rounds in the bad stuff to get to the good stuff or vice versa. And then there’s only one winner at each event, so 10 winners every year. That means there’s a lot of losing. How do you keep your spirit up when you can’t go home and reset, and you have to stay on the road and stay motivated? Those are some of the challenges that athletes have to face that maybe a lot of people don’t really think about.
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Are you hoping to return to tour?
That’s an unknown right now. But knowing how competitive I am and how much I like a challenge, I think it’d be fun to do a couple of wildcard events at some point and see how that feels. I’m going to give myself some time to heal and recover and get back to surfing the way that I want to surf. I don’t know what that’s going to look like, but for sure the door is not closed on competing.
I do feel really satisfied with what I have done in that realm, but the whole idea of being a mom in that space and getting to travel with my family and show my daughter the world that I got to be a part of would be so cool. I don’t feel pressure, but it is a little bit of uncharted territory that would be fun to scratch the surface of. I know there are a lot of women on tour now that want to be moms and who want to still do what they love.
Did you know you were pregnant heading into the Olympics?
I did. I found out pretty early on that I was pregnant; I found out in mid-June. I was about 10, 10 and a half weeks pregnant at the Olympics. I thought it was going to take us a while to get pregnant, just with the stress and travel and all this stuff that I go through. I didn’t know if it was going to all line up. When it did, I realized how fortunate I was for it to happen at that time. It was beautiful to have this other thing to transition out of the Olympics to look forward to.
Teahupo’o is a serious wave. Did competing pregnant affect the conditions you were willing to train in or the waves you went for?
No. I can confidently look back and say I don’t regret anything, and I don’t think it affected the way that I approached or competed. I was so early on. I talked to my doctor, obviously, and he said she was in a safe space and protected by my pelvic bone so there wasn’t much I could do to hurt her unless I got a board to my abdomen. So, I felt good about that. But the hardest part was the nausea and fatigue, which you get in your first trimester. I didn’t really feel myself, but I was like ‘hey this is just an obstacle that I’m going to have to face and I’m going to have to get it done.’ I definitely went out and gave it my best every day.
Did you get to talk to any other surfer moms before heading to the Olympic?
Going into the Olympics my husband and I kept it really quiet because when you’re in your first trimester anything can happened with miscarriages and stuff. So, it really was our little secret and I didn’t have many people to lean on. In a way it was kind of cool to be our little thing but at the same time I like having a community and have always found a lot of strength in community, so it was kind of weird being a little bit isolated going through it.
But since I announced it, I’ve been talking to my friends and other people who have become moms and it has been so helpful and super comforting. I’m finding more women that have surfed through their pregnancy, but not enough, I want more information
Did you know any other pros who competed while they were pregnant?
I didn’t, that’s the crazy part. I think that’s why it took me so long to commit. For a woman it’s so much harder than a man on tour because you to grow the baby so that takes nine or ten months and then you have to heal and recover. That’s a significant amount of time that you have to commit to away from your professional career. It’s hard. Past that first trimester my belly just kept getting bigger and bigger, which made it hard to move and maneuver in a lineup and you don’t want to hurt the baby also. I think it would be pretty difficult to compete past a certain point.
It always seemed that once surfers became mothers that was the end of their professional career and that really freaked me out. I felt like you had to choose one or the other. But it’s been cool to see more and more women in sports changing that narrative. I know my priorates are going to change, but I still have a deep love for surfing and performing at a high level. I don’t know if I could balance and do it all, but I’d like to try.
How has surfing been going during your pregnancy?
It’s been good. The last couple of weeks it’s been very humbling. I’m still getting in the water four or five times a week, but I’ve really had to adjust my mindset. I’m not out there creating content; I’m not out there trying to push my turns and get better at a maneuver. I’m just going out there for the pure stoke and joy of it because it makes me feel good. And that’s beautiful. I’m so grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to fall in love with surfing in a whole new way. But it’s also uncomfortable for me because I’ve been a competitive surfer for so long and I’ve always looked at it one way. It’s fun, it’s always been my passion, but it’s weird to turn that switch off and look at it differently.
Are you hopeful that your daughter follows in your footsteps and wants to be a surfer?
I really hope so. I just really want her to love it because I love the idea of a lifestyle of us going to the beach every day, even if it’s just after school to jump in the water. I look back on my life and that brought me so much joy. I love that that was something that I did with my dad and my mom. It was our bonding time where we didn’t have any distractions and I would love to share with her, whether she wants to become a professional or not. I just want her to love it and be able to enjoy it.
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Is there anyone that you look up to her as a parent or someone who’s advice that you would seek?
There are a lot of mammas out there that I have been in awe of recently. But it’s been pretty cool, my dad has a little, so I have a little brother who’s turning three. I have been really inspired watching my dad be a parent as a grown up myself. I’ve really gotten to see how present he is with him and how he lets my brother be independent but then also reels him in when he needs to. He’s this confident, vibrant, and super smart young boy, and he’s polite, loving and sweet.
And then one of my heroes is Kimi Werner. I follow her on Instagram, and I love reading her stories about motherhood and balancing her career and her passions and how she’s navigated everything. I’d love to connect with her over coffee sometime and pick her brain. I did get to talk with Kelia Moniz recently. I know she went through a huge shift in her career and becoming a mom over the last couple of years and I think she’s done really well because she’s been authentic to herself. It’s really cool to see the life that she lives and she continues to be a big influence in the surfing world and even beyond that. Those are just two of the women that I’m thinking of right now but there are so many badass mammas out there who are doing it all.
Have you been able to spend more time focusing on other things now that you’re not competing?
Yeah, it’s been awesome. This year I worked on a full-length feature film/documentary with Red Bull and Peter Hamlin. It’s about this journey of self and finding self-love, so I’m excited to share that next year. I’ve been working on my charitable foundation, Moore Aloha, and putting a lot of love into that, and I’m really excited for 2025 and to grow our programs. And then I’ve just been giving myself some time to rest and recharge with my family and friends.
