Team USA surfers are heading into the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 bringing their best and determined to be back on the podium, after winning a full set of the first surfing medals ever awarded at the Pan American Games Lima 2019.

Santiago 2023 will be surfing’s second appearance at the Pan American Games following the sport’s debut at Lima 2019 – and features four core disciplines: shortboard, longboard, standUp (SUP) surfing and SUP racing.

The 2023 Pan Am Games surfing venue is two hours southwest of Santiago at Pichilemu’s renowned, high-performance wave ‘Punta de Lobos.’ As one of the best breaks in South America, Chile surfing conditions offer a prime stage for watching an exciting and athletically demanding sport.

• Shortboard surfing made its Olympic debut at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with native Hawaiian Carissa Moore winning the sport’s very first gold medal. Moore qualified to defend her gold at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, where she will face many of the Pan American Games surfers competing to qualify for the Olympics.
• Team USA surfers Zane Schweitzer and Connor Baxter will be leaving home to compete in the Pan American Games just months after devastating wildfires tore through the island of Maui, where the two live and grew up. Maui remains in the throes of recovery with West Maui schools still closed, thousands of people out of work and living in temporary housing, and hundreds of businesses closed. Schweitzer has been involved in building nearly a 100 “tiny home” accessory dwelling units to help relieve the pressure for families hosting displaced friends and family who lost their homes to the fires.
• Not only is she the winningest women's SUP athlete, Candice Appleby is the first and only woman to beat men in a professional SUP surfing event, winning both the women’s and Open Pro divisions.

Few will forget Candice Appleby’s dramatic wipeout finish to take Silver in the 2019 Pan Am Games women’s SUP distance race. Appleby has been training hard to win 2023 Pan Am Gold and qualified to compete in both surf and SUP race events in 2023 Santiago. ESPN W called Appleby, “Abby Wambach, Serena Williams, Brittney Griner and Danica Patrick all rolled into one. She’s talented, fiercely competitive, tremendously well-respected and a true ambassador of the sport.”

Team USA’s Connor Baxter will be defending his 2019 Pan Am Gold in the men’s SUP distance race. After winning two gold medals at the 2022 ICF SUP World Championships, Baxter will be bringing even more power, stamina, and momentum to Chile.

It will be International Surfing Association SUP surf world champion Zane Kekoa Schweitzer’s first Pan American Games appearance. Schweitzer, from Maui, Hawaii, is a multi-sport watermen, who excels in SUP, foil, longboard, and big-wave surfing.

Santa Barbara, California’s Cole Robbins took home Bronze in the 2019 Pan Am Games in men’s longboarding, and looks forward to showcasing his signature style and finesse for an even higher finish in 2023.

The maximum team size for the 2023 Pan Am Games is 10; 5 men and 5 women. The maximum quota per NOC per gender is as follows:

• Shortboard: 2
• Sup Surf: 1
• Sup Race: 1
• Longboard: 1

Quote places are allocated to athletes by name.

SUP Surf & SUP Race:

The following events were used as part of the SUP Surf & Sup Race selection process for Team USA (in hierarchal order):

• ISA World SUP Championship, Puerto Rico (Oct. 28–Nov. 6, 2022): The top four male and top four female finishers, per discipline qualified by name to the Pan Am Games, with a maximum of one per gender and discipline per NOC. U.S. athletes qualified for this event by placing top 2, per gender, per discipline during the 2022 USA Surfing Championships (June 13-17, 2022).
• Candice Appleby double qualified in both SUP Technical Race and SUP Surf Events

• Connor Baxter qualified in the SUP Technical Race
• Zane Schweitzer qualified for SUP Surf
• 2023 PASA Games (April 21-30, 2023)

Longboard:

The following events were used as part of the selection process for Longboard for Team USA:

• 2023 ISA World Longboard Championships (May 7–13, 2023)
• 2023 PASA Games (April 21-30, 2023)

Athletes qualified to compete in the 2023 ISA World Longboard Championships and the 2023 PARA Games by placing in the top 2, per gender, during the 2022 USA Surfing Championships – Longboard.

Shortboard:

Gold medalists in the Shortboard event will qualify to the Paris 2024.