Ella Williams facts for kids
Ella Williams (born 13 January 1995) is a talented surfer from Whangamatā, New Zealand. When she was 18 years old, she became a junior world champion in Florianópolis, Brazil. She is also set to compete in the first-ever shortboard surfing competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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Meet Ella Williams
Ella Williams was born in 1995. She grew up in a family of surfers; her parents, Dean and Janine, even owned a surf shop! Ella started surfing when she was just four years old in Raglan.
Starting Young
She entered her very first surfing competition at age six, competing in the under-12 group. When she was seven, her family moved to Whangamatā on the Coromandel Peninsula. This beach is famous for its great surfing waves. In 2002, her family took over the local surf shop there. Ella went to Whangamatā Area School, but she admits she was "not very good at school" because she loved surfing so much!
Chasing a Dream
When Ella was eight, she wrote on a surf poster that she wanted to be a world champion. She hung it by her bed so she would see it every morning. Her hard work paid off! She started winning competitions from age 14, even beating some of the boys she competed against.
Becoming a World Champion
Ella wasn't originally supposed to go to the World Junior Championship in 2013. She was just outside the top rankings. But then, an Australian surfer named Ellie-Jean Coffey couldn't go because of an injury. This gave Ella a chance! With only ten days' notice, she flew to Brazil. In the final competition, she beat Brazilian surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb to win the world title! The next year, Ella became a professional surfer.
Surfing for New Zealand
At the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games, Ella Williams earned a spot to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She finished 29th in that competition, which was enough to provisionally qualify for New Zealand. New Zealand was allowed to send up to two male and two female surfers.
