Teenage Olympic skater Ruby Trew’s ‘love’ for Sydney’s only surf park

She debuted at the Olympics in Paris in skateboarding, but Ruby Trew also wants to pursue pro surfing. She’s using Sydney’s only surf park to prepare for upcoming competitions in Asia.

Olympic skater and professional surfer Ruby Trew at URBNSURF in Sydney Olympic Park, which is celebrating its one year anniversary. Picture: Tim Hunter.

She’s a multi-sport teenage sensation, flipping between hitting the waves at URBNSURF and dropping into a bowl at the skatepark.

At the age of just 15, Ruby Trew made her Olympic debut competing in skateboarding last year in Paris. While she adores both skating and surfing, back then it was the skatepark which took preference.

She continues to compete in skateboarding, but the now-16-year-old has her sights set on making her way up through the ranks of professional surfing, and is training every Tuesday at URBNSURF in Sydney Olympic Park.

The centre celebrated its first birthday on Tuesday. Having surfed at other URBNSURF locations in Australia, Ruby was “stoked” when it was first announced that Sydney would having one of its own.

“I just fell in love with it,” Ruby said.

Ruby Trew in a barrel at URBNSURF. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“The consistency of the waves is so crazy … it’s only an hour away.”

Being a part of the New South Wales Institute of Sport, only a several hundred metres away from the facility, Ruby said she wants to “use it more” given she does all her other training “nearby”.

Ruby Trew walking out of the water after a tough session. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Despite being a professional, Ruby said the facility wasn’t just exclusive to advanced surfers, appealing to those willing to learn.

“Most kids who learn to surf usually have parents who already surf,” she said.

“They know which beaches are safe, what board to use, and how the ocean works. But for kids whose parents don’t surf, it can be really challenging to even get started.”

That’s where URBNSURF comes in, Ruby added it “gives everyone a chance to try surfing in a safe, controlled environment”.

As for Ruby’s future, the young athlete is set to travel to Indonesia and South Korea in the coming days as part of the Qualifying Series.

“Right now I’ve been in surf mode, like surfing every single day,” Ruby said.

“I’ve been training for those comps coming up, so I’m going over to practice for them and hopefully get a good result.”

But, her skating won’t be left on the back burner, adding “I think there’s a skatepark over there too, so I’ll take my skateboard.”

Ruby isn’t lost on the difficulties of juggling two sports, saying “it’s a hard balance” but she enjoys the challenge.

“Every day it’s fun, and like not getting burnt out from one sport,” she said.

“If you’ve had enough of surfing, you can go to skating for a bit … it’s good switching it up.”

Originally published as Teenage Olympic skater Ruby Trew’s ‘love’ for Sydney’s only surf park