By Dan Walsh
Sierra Kerr is 17 and about to miss the first day of her final year of high school. But she might have life already figured out anyway.
The daughter of former Australian pro surfer Josh Kerr, Sierra has followed her dad around the world sampling its best and heaviest waves for half her life.
She’s regarded as a key figure in the future of women’s surfing thanks to her progressive feats, prodigious talent and 2023 world junior championship victory.
Skateboarding experts held her in similar esteem given she was landing tricks no woman ever had by age nine, with the Olympics tipped to follow an X-Games appearances.
In her early teens, Kerr was also playing golf off a handicap of six.
And this week, when she starts the final year in her online studies, Kerr has made her surfing Championship Tour debut at Cloudbreak, the Fijian wave regarded as one of the world’s best.
On Thursday the teen star kept her gloves up in windswept but largely serviceable four-to-six foot peaks too, pushing world No.1 and good friend Caity Simmers for much of their first round heat in the Fiji Pro.
Sierra Kerr admires the view from inside a Teahupo’o barrel.Credit: Jesse Little
“I might try to keep up with the school program … or I might play catch up when I get home,” Kerr laughs from Tavarua, where she is a wildcard entry alongside Canadian teen prodigy Erin Brooks and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, with an elimination round heat on Friday still to come.
“I don’t know if I’ve got it all worked out, but it’s a pretty good life right now. I’m pretty nervous, this is something you dream of, and I’m surfing with all my friends, all these girls I’ve grown up on surf trips with.
“I definitely like where I’m at right now but the goal is to go pro on the tour. I watched my dad do it, and it’s the pinnacle of surfing, so that’s the goal.”
Kerr has done more than just watch her old man Josh - a former top 10 regular held in high regard for his aerial prowess.
Sierra Kerr, age 10, caddying for her dad Josh Kerr during the 2017 Fiji Pro.Credit: WSL
She has followed the now 40-year-old into heaving waves like Tahiti’s Teahupo’o and The Box in Western Australia in a dynamic that is fast morphing into ‘monkey see, monkey do it better’.
Fittingly, a photo of a 10-year-old Sierra caddying (when someone holds onto a surfer’s boards during competition like in golf) for Josh during his last Fiji Pro in 2017 has surfaced this week.
Even better, the dad-daughter duo stole the show at the Nias Pro off North Sumatra two months ago.
“Dad and I had never been to Nias and we saw the swell for it, so we were both keen for that competition,” Kerr says.
Sierra Kerr takes flight in Ballito, South Africa.Credit: World Surf League/Pierre Tostee
“I ended up getting a 10 and a 9.8 [in two-metre barrels], and Dad’s heat was up next so he wasn’t caddying for me which is rare.
“But he paddled straight past me for his heat and was just going off for me. Then he went and caught his own awesome waves and won his heat.
“He’s my biggest role model, he’s my hero. Anything he thinks is cool, I think it’s cool.
“He’s definitely influenced me the most, and he’s always inspired me, we get to surf all over the world, and that’s because of him.
“Most of the places I go to, Dad’s already been there so he shows me the ropes, I’m usually trying to just keep up with him, which is probably how it’s been my whole life.
“I’ve always been charging after him and he’s always charging big waves too.”
Kerr is targeting a 2026 qualification for the full Championship Tour and calls the Gold Coast home these days after the family had based themselves in Carlsbad, California during Josh’s professional career.
The water also reigns supreme for the teen prodigy, despite her prowess at almost anything she turns her hand too.
“I started skating and surfing at the same age ... around five, and golf did take over around the age of 11,” she says.
“But from 13 it’s been surfing as the priority since then. Three years ago, I was trying to qualify in skating but surfing’s my love, I enjoy being in the water too much.
“I feel like surfing’s in charge now and will be for a career, but I do love golf and skating as a break and something to take my mind off surfing.”
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