Ewe Wong wins gold for Hawaii at the ISA. Photo: Courtesy of ISA
Hailing from Wahiawa, Oahu, Ēweleiʻula Wong learned to surf when she was just two years old. When she was six, her focus shifted to skateboarding. But when she was nine, she began competing in surf competitions and was quickly hooked. Although Wong has always been a solid junior surfer, this year she gained a lot of momentum and brought home some big results. In 2022, Wong finished third at the Sunset Pro, fourth at the Haleiwa Challenger, and won gold at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships, helping Hawaii bring home the overall team gold. Wong is currently on a nonstop train headed straight for success and she has no plans of getting off.
Has the ocean always been important to your family?
I come from a watermen family on my mom’s side. They have a beach house on the Big Island and they grew up fishing and surfing and whatnot. I definitely have a lot of ocean influence from my family. And my dad’s side surfs also, it’s just not as close to them. But yeah, I grew up in the water a bunch.
What was it like growing up in the birthplace of surfing?
Something my parents always told me was ‘it’s not just about you, it’s about a bigger picture. You’re not just surfing for yourself, you’re surfing for your people and your culture.’ That’s always been a big part of the reason for why I surf. Especially going to a Hawaiian immersion school where we learned to speak the language and about our culture. Surfing as a cultural practice and learning about the language kind of came hand in hand.
What have been some of your best or proudest competition results over the years?
I started doing the Menehune contests at Haleiwa and the T & C contests at Waikiki. Then I moved on to the HASA and NSSAs and stuff. This year was my first year competing on the QS and I ended up qualifying for the CS next season. My biggest results happened this year — Sunset was my first time making a final in a QS and Haleiwa was my first time making a final in a Challenger. Everyone came down to watch; it was great.
What was it like getting to represent Hawaii at ISA World Junior Surfing Championships?
As a native Hawaiian it was really special for me to represent Hawaii on a world stage amongst a bunch of other countries and for Hawaii to be recognized as an independent entity. Hawaii is a very important place for surfing and I think people definitely know that, but I think the most surprising thing for people was learning that a language still exists.
Walk us through your heats and your final.
I surfed my first and second heat and then I lost my third heat out of the main round, so I had to surf a bunch of repechage heats. I ended up making the final and the waves got really bad for the final, they were all over the place and it was hard to find a good one. For some reason that gave me more confidence because it reminded me of Rockies on a bad day which I’ve surfed many times. I found an okay one at the beginning of the heat and that boosted my confidence and then towards the end I found another good one.
What did it mean for you to win individual gold and gold overall for Hawaii?
It was such a surreal experience. Especially not doing well in my first rounds and barely making it by for the rest of the time, it meant a lot to me to win and it meant a lot to me for the entire team to win. Standing amongst my teammates and them cheering me on was an amazing feeling.
Why is it important to you to attend school rather than homeschool?
I’ve been at this school since I was in kindergarten; it’s a Hawaiian immersion school. It was always important for me and my family that I would stay in immersion until I graduated so that I learn the language and I’m immersed in the culture. It goes hand in hand with my surfing and surfing as a cultural practice. There are only four seniors and I’m one of them.
Favorite waves at home?
I love surfing Laniaekea; it’s one of my favorite waves. It’s a really long right and you can do some many different things and you find really good waves under the crowd. And I love to surf V-land and Rockies.
What are your goals looking forward?
I really want to graduate high school; that’s definitely number one on my list. The first couple of CS events are right around my graduation, so I may not do them. Next season, it will be a good learning experience for me traveling and competing on a higher level because this was my first year doing QS’s. So, I just want to gain more experience competing and learn more about myself. I’m taking it step by step, but a long-term goal of mine is to qualify for the world tour.
What do you like to do when you’re not surfing?
I have a garden, I like to plant things. I also enjoy reading. I don’t have a lot of free time because when I’m not surfing and I’m usually doing homework and catching up.
