Jordan is a professional wake surfer. For those of you who don’t know, wake surfing is a sport in which the boat pulls the surfer with a rope, much like water skiing. But, as soon as the surfer is in the pocket of the wave, they have to drop the rope and surf in the wake of the boat. It sounds nearly impossible, but somehow Jordan finds a way to make it look easy.
When Jordan was ten years old, her family purchased a boat they called a Moomba. Her family soon met up with two other families from Florida and they introduced Jordan to the sport. She was a natural. When she was only ten years old, she participated in her first competition in the Junior division and won first place. 
She went on to do two more competitions and, again, won first place. Next, she competed in the World Wake Surfing Series as a Junior Pro in Florida in 2012. She won second place.
Jordan went on to be the Junior Pro World Champion in 2014.
Right: Ella Thomas and Jordan Wolfe
After winning in 2014, Jordan turned Pro and placed second in the Women’s Pro Surf Division at the 2015 World Wake Surfing Championship.
Although she says she owes her success to her parents and appreciates the way they act as her coaches, Jordan is inspired by surf rider, Chase Hazen. Chase no longer competes, but Jordan thinks he was the best there has been and she aspires to be able to surf the way he did. She also gives credit to Soul Craft for being her board sponsor and Supra Boats for being her boat sponsor.
Jordan’s training schedule can be rigorous. She lives by the motto “you only get out of it what you put into it.” She trains as much as possible during the school year, primarily dry land workouts to maintain balance and to stay in shape. In the warmer months, she practices at her lake home, often working from 6:30am to 9pm during weekends in the summer. Her training schedule will sometimes require that she spend time away from her family to get more specific practice. But it’s all worth it in the end.
Being able to be calm and focused before and during competitions is key. Jordan says that learning to relax herself before competitions took some practice. She has found that swimming out on her board and sitting quietly in the water helps her to maintain composure. She also finds that listening to music can help her “get into the zone.”
The competition schedule takes Jordan to Las Vegas, Arizona, Virginia, Texas and many other places around the country. The competitions are held all over the world, but most of the time she competes here in the United States.
Surprisingly, the World Competition is held right here in Georgia at Callaway Gardens.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jordan and learning more about this growing sport. I had no idea that she had such an amazing hidden talent. Our community is so fortunate to have this incredible champion among us.
That’s everything with Ella!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Ella Thomas is an eighth grader at Crews Middle School. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact Ella at everythingella@outlook.com
