This steely-eyed Brazilian-born, Hawaiian-raised goofyfooter has been a fiery, strong, courageous, and confident presence on the CT since 2015. Her competitive drive comes from her Brazilian mother, a former professional bodyboarder who won an event at Pipeline in the 90s. Her passion comes from dad, British born but who is known as a hardcore surfer on Kauai. Days after she was born in Brazil, the family moved to Garden Isle and the timing couldn’t have been better. Kauai’s hotbed of talent was making a huge push on the global stage, led by Andy and Bruce Irons, and Tatiana was one of the dozens of stoked grommets riding the surge. Her father routinely paddled her out at big Hanalei Bay when she was young, which is why she’s one of the most confident surfers on Tour in waves of consequence. When Hollywood needed a stunt double to play young Bethany Hamilton in Soul Surfer, 11-year-old Tatiana was the perfect fit. She spent three weeks on Oahu shooting and hanging with her friend and hero. On her way to the Championship Tour, she won back-to-back ISA World Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014. Her high-energy approach is a direct reflection of her personality; void of any timidity, and equally dangerous at ten-foot Cloudbreak as it is at three-foot Huntington Beach. In 2016 she nabbed her first CT win at the Vans US Open of Surfing and in 2017 she made back-to-back finals in Fiji and HB. In 2018, she climbed from 10th to 4th place on the Jeep Leaderboard finishing second at Bells and Uluwatu. In 2019 she was consistent, if not spectacular, and finished as the World No. 6. Having decided to compete under the Brazilian flag since 2018, that result meant she would represent her mother’s country at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The disappointment of failing to secure a medal at the Games was offset by an incredible run on the CT in 2021. After qualifying for the WSL Finals, she pushed Carissa Moore all the way in a best-of-three Final. Her finish as World No. 2 was her career-best, and she then quickly vowed to go one better.

Instagram: @tatiwest