Brisa Hennessy found a connection with her roots while competing for Costa Rica in the Olympics

Brisa Hennessy was one of only 12 athletes representing Costa Rica in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, and that experience helped connect her to her roots.

Surfing was a new sport added to the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo this year. One athlete who took the opportunity to suit up and represent the small nation of Costa Rica was surfer Brisa Hennessy. Hennessy was one of only 12 athletes from Costa Rica who made the trip to Toyko, FanSided spoke to Hennessy about her experience in Japan and the impact it has left on her as she continues her surfing season.

“It was definitely a whirlwind of emotions. I don’t think I had any idea of the impact it would have on my life and just my mental state and just my drive,” Hennessy said. “I can’t emphasize just the incredible impact the Olympics had on me and just connecting me, I think back with my roots. Why I started surfing, why I want to continue surfing and the people in my life that are just such incredible support. Just searching for something bigger than yourself. So I feel like I found a new drive by being inspired by all the different athletes that came together. And we’re united under the same competition, just super inspired.”

Hennessy competes on the World Surf League Championship Tour against some of the best in the surfing world. Having the opportunity to now step on the world stage and represent Costa Rica had a profound impact on Hennessy.

“We only went with 12 athletes,” Hennessy explained. “So we were one of the smallest groups competing there. And I think, because of that, it really unifies the country and our team, and I definitely feel the amount of love and support from that. We’re all rooting for each other and we all know each other. And it really was something so special and to represent a place where I found my love for surfing, it’s hard to put into words, to feel that love was indescribable.”

Like many people, Hennessy had to take some time away from her work during 2020. She spent that time in Fiji with her family and began to fall back in love with surfing. She took the time away from competition to do some self-reflecting and finding passions outside of the water.

“There was a silver lining,” Hennessy spoke of the quarantine. “I ended up really being with my family and really learning about myself and my other passions in my life, I ended up being stuck on this little island in Fiji called the Namotu, and it takes five minutes to walk around. So it’s really small, and we spent pretty much all of 2020 there. There’s definitely a place of self-reflection and kind of really learning about myself and learning why I surf and define that love again and finding that passion. But I would say my other passions are definitely in the kitchen and cooking. That’s one thing that is very therapeutic to me and making people happy with the food that I make. And I think just a fine balance as far as an athlete is it’s super important to keep the motivation and to keep, you know, being human, we’re human and to enjoy ourselves even though we’re athletes and are really focused.”

Hennessy will now be joining the other WSL CT athletes in Mexico, competing at the Corona Open Mexico. The Corona Open Mexico is going on right now and can be seen on the WSL app or on WSL on YouTube.