The World Surf League 2025 season is in full swing. As the best surfers in the world move to the fourth event of the year, they flock to El Salvador to surf one of the most perfect waves on planet Earth. Among these talented men and women who will take to the water in Punta Roca, La Libertad, El Salvador, is Brisa Hennessy, the skillful soul surfer who hails from Costa Rica. Following stops in Hawaii, Abu Dhabi, and Portugal, Hennessy is looking to turn her season around a bit closer to home. The El Salvador stop has been a staple of the WSL Championship Tour for years now, and Hennessy thinks this right-point break could be what she needs to begin climbing up the leaderboard and painting a picture on the blank canvas of the ocean. She spoke exclusively to Fansided about this and more.
“It's been an interesting start for me this year," she said. “I haven't had any really good results. I think my best result was in Pipe and from then it's actually been really good motivation, a wake-up call for me on the things that I need to work on mentally and I'm excited. I feel like this is a fresh start for me, and it's a perfect, right-point break. I feel like I've been doing the work that I need to do and facing truths, and I think questioning myself on, what is my why? And what is getting me fired up?”
Each year on the Championship Tour, the best surfers travel around the world to battle it out for a chance at a World Title. This year the locations of tour stops have changed a bit. For the first time, the WSL athletes traveled to Abu Dhabi to compete in a wave pool. Hennessy was among the first timers in the Surf Abu Dhabi Pool on Hudayriyat Island. She recalled this historic opportunity.
“It was very different to what we're used to, for sure. I mean, we were completely in the desert,” she explained “It just felt kind of like a different world, you know, the Middle East but I also feel like it was such an incredible opportunity to bring this special sport to a place that has never experienced that and to show the world what's possible in that space. And there was an insane surfing going down. I feel like it added something different to the tour, for sure. And I think that's why we do it, is to expand our world view and branch out to different opportunities.”
Brisa Hennessy feels at home at the Surf City El Salvador Pro
From the Middle East, Hennessy and company flew to Portugal for the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, and from there they now descend on El Salvador. As close to home as Hennessy will get on the CT, this location brings a fondness and a newfound motivation right in time for the next leg of the Tour.
“I feel so good. I mean coming from Portugal, it was so cold and just landing here, I feel like my body was in its element again,” she said. “Costa Rica is just an hour's flight away from here, so this is part of Central America, and I immediately felt at home, and it's such a perfect wave. I think that just gets me really excited, to go surfing, and it's such a blank canvas, and I think everyone's able to really paint their own picture on it, which is really exciting. I love right-point breaks. So yeah, hopefully, I can dig deep and make it happen.”
With each stop on Tour, comes unique challenges. One wave break might be massive with a barrel that looks to be ridden deep, another might be a smaller wave that can set up huge airs. This incontenuity fuels the need for athletes to so well rounded. Hennessy spoke about this difficult aspect of the sport.
“I mean, our sport is very challenging in that regard,” she said. “We have a lot of variables, but I would say, I think from the time that we've started really competing, when we were younger, we knew that we had to be a well-rounded surfer. That comes with a variety of waves, from beach-break surfing, to point-break surfing to barrels. It's what we've seen our idols do, and we know it’s more than strategic. We need to be really good ocean people, like watermen and waterwomen, and kind of adapt. I think that is our biggest superpower, we’re able to be in that flow state and adapt to all situations.”
Outside of the water, Hennessy has a passion for health and wellness. Her drive to be her best cast a shadow on those around her. She wants to better the lives of those she cares about and everyone she can help. She has been on a path of learning and betterment and hopes to share what she learns in a positive way with others.
“I've kind of been on this health journey since I think in 2022 and I’ve crossed paths with some really amazing people, one of them being a Chinese medicine specialist, and I'm starting one of her courses or apprenticeships, and it's been really cool to work on myself as a human but also seeing how can I help others in that regard, too,” she said. “My passion is to help women holistically and just based on my struggles. So that's something that I've been working on, learning about Chinese medicine, which has been super fascinating. I love cooking, so I think also on the back burner is maybe creating, like a cookie brand or something…I feel like bringing women together and, sharing stories is the most valuable thing at this moment in time.”
Currently, Hennessy sits in 11th place in the WSL rankings. With the mid-season cut coming up following the next event in Australia, she will be looking to use her newfound motivation to compel her into the top ten and beyond. The competition window for the Surf City El Salvador Pro began on April 2 with the competition continuing until April 12 is necessary. Opening rounds can be viewed on the WSL YouTube channel with Finals Day on Worldsurfleague.com or on the WSL app. Hennessy is always one of the surfers to watch in Central America and could find herself with a win close to home in El Salvador.