Watch: Caroline Marks’ Maiden World Title From Her POV

People have been calling Caroline Marks "the next big thing" and a "future world champ" ever since she was a 12-year-old mini-grom competing in the NSSA in Florida.

Turns out they were right.

But that's not to say it happened easily.

While Marks qualified for the world tour before her 18th birthday, after a few years of non-stop travel and a mixed bag of results, she found herself burning out. Rather than unravel completely and quit way too soon, she instead took time away from competition in 2022, only returning to tour full-time at the beginning of this season.

The reset obviously worked.

"By far one of the best days of my life!", writes Marks in a heartfelt caption alongside this new clip on her YouTube page. "First off wanna start by saying congratulations to Carissa Moore on a stellar year. To share the lineup and compete with you on the big stage is a surreal feeling. You are a class act and an inspiration to me, along with so many others. Much love and respect to you.

"To my Florida & San Clemente family and friends, seeing all of you on the beach cheering loud all day, I thought to myself no matter what happens today I’ve got awesome people around me. And how cool is that?! If you told 10-year-old Caroline to write in her journal a dream scenario to win her first world title, this would be it.

"I feel like I’m floating on a cloud right now. To my older brother Luke, thank you for showing me surfing, giving me my first board, going out there with me every day and pushing me to the point where I’d cry sometimes haha. I’m so stoked we can now share these special moments together. Mom and Dad, thank you for keeping things fun and light-hearted always. This wouldn’t be possible without you both and I'm so lucky to have you. My shaper @matt_biolos & @lostsurfboards crew congratulations on winning this year's shaper ranks, & thank you for putting magic under my feet. Congratulations @filipetoledo. Back to back champ! You’re incredible in and out of the water. I’m so happy for you!

"I went through one of the hardest times of my life last year mentally and physically and there were moments where I doubted myself, not sure if I’d ever get back to a certain place of happiness so just to be standing here finding that happy place with myself & surfing feels good. Not every day is perfect but damn I’m enjoying the ride! @wsl thank you for giving us the platform. A shout-out to my team @lukeegan @mikeparsons1 , my trainer Stu, Jasmine, my sports psychologist Eric, & my filmer @noahjm22. My sponsors @roxy @redbullsurfing @oakleysurfing @freestylewatches @gromsocial @matt_biolos @ronjonofficial @fcs_surf thank you for believing in me, I’ll cherish this moment forever."

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