Onbrand

It all started in 2021, when I was unexpectedly asked to join the Dutch surf team. I had never competed before, but the national coach saw something in me and offered me a wildcard for the World Junior Championships. I didn’t perform well there, yet just a few weeks later I was invited to the European Championship, where I finished third. That’s when things really started. Or maybe they had been building all along.
Looking back, I grew up on the small Caribbean island of Curaçao, in and around the ocean. My parents are true water people they taught us to swim, dive, fish, kayak, and surf from a very young age. It was never their intention to push me toward professional surfing, but somewhere along the way, it quietly became my dream.
Then came the 2023 World Surfing Championships. Unexpectedly, I beat several top-ranked surfer including a former world champion and came incredibly close to qualifying for the 2024 Olympics. I missed out by less than 0.2 points. It wasn’t until a few days later that I fully realized how close I had come, and what it could have meant. That’s when the Olympic dream truly took hold. For the past two years, I’ve been fully committed to that dream, and I’m on track. But it hasn’t been easy. The challenge is physical, mental, and financial. My entire family has been drawn into this journey everyone is making sacrifices and putting other things aside. Still, the biggest hurdle is funding. Right now, I’m getting by on the bare minimum just enough to reach the essential competitions. That is why I started posting on my socials, sharing the beauty of the ocean and surfing. Showing where I grew up and who I am. I'm kind of new to all the TikTok stuff but I really have been giving it a try and enjoying the process. Now I'd love to collaborate with brands, promote the products I believe in.