Meet the Pro - Q & A with Jake Marshall - Encinitas Boardriders Club

It’s not easy catching up with Encinitas’s own WSL World Championship Tour surfer, Jake Marshall. Coming off of a successful 2024 campaign, Jake was rank 11th in the world at year end. Now after 2 events in the 2025 season, with a 5th place at the Lexus Pipe Pro and a 17th in the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro in the largest wave pool in the world, Jake currently sits in 13th place. With a month off before the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, we were able to have a quick Q and A with Jake, and this is what he had to say.

How old are you? 26

Your height? 6’0

How much do you weight? 180

Your current sponsors? Hurley, Carve Eyewear, Sharp Eye Surfboards, FCS, Surf Ride

Everyday shortboard dimensions including liters? 6’1 x 19 2.5 x 29.7 liters

Which fins are you using? Mick Fanning Larges FCS

Main shaper? Taylor Clark and Marcio Zouvi Sharp Eye Surfboards

Favorite wave at home? Seaside Reef

Biggest wave ever paddled/towed into? Not sure maybe 15 or 20 foot face Sunset Beach, HI?

If you could pick any wave in the world for a WCT contest, that is not already on tour, which wave would that be? It would have to be Haleiwa, I really miss having an event there, definitely one of my favorite spots in the world

Favorite contest venue(s) on tour and why? Pipeline and Chopes (Teahupo’o) are my two favorites because you can get the best wave of your life in a heat which is pretty cool. Even though I lose sleep during those events because it’s pretty scary when you get a big forecast.

Most challenging wave(s) on tour and why? For me Pipeline and the wave pool are probably the two most challenging events but for totally different reasons. I think pipeline is really tricky because it is such a hard lineup to learn and it changes every day depending on swell direction. It’s also hard to practice because the crowd is so crazy out there, it’s a wave I’ll probably surf my whole life and still learn something every time I paddle out. The wavepool is also tough because it’s so much different then surfing in the ocean and I don’t have much experience in the pool. There is also an added pressure only getting to ride two waves in your heat.

What wave did you have to compete in on the Qualifying or Challenger Series do you never want to go back to? I would be really happy to never go back to Cocoa Beach or Virginia Beach sorry to all the groms who have to surf those events

Outside of surfing, what is your favorite country in the world besides the USA and why? I really love going to Europe, any country over there is great especially Portugal. Awesome waves, minimal crowd, great food

How do you mentally prepare for a big heat? Are you more of a meditation/visualization mind set or do you prefer blasting some music, jumping around and getting psyched? I like to do a good warmup to get my body firing and listen to some mellow music, usually reggae anything like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh seems to get me in the best headspace to surf. I’m one of those people who gets naturally fired up for heats so I don’t like to listen to music that makes me too psyched, I think it’s important to be calm and have a clear headspace going out into the lineup. Just try to find that flow state. Reggae also just makes me happy and reminds me to be grateful that I get to go out and compete at all these great waves for my job, not a bad life!

Favorite surfer(s) to compete against and why? Any of the top surfers, especially John John, Gabriel, Griffin and Ethan are my favorites to go up against because it’s a true test of all your skills. You need to bring your best surfing and competing to stand a chance and it’s hard to find that level unless you are against the highest level competition.

Favorite surfer(s) that you looked up to growing up? I had so many favorite surfers growing up and they all had a huge influence on my surfing. I really like Tom Curren, Occy, Andy, Kelly, Bobby Martinez, the Hobgoods, Dane Reynolds, Taj, Parko, and John John are probably my all time favorites.

Favorite girl surfer(s) on tour? Caity simmers is one of my favorite surfers right now male or female, I just love her approach to surfing and just life in general. Lots to learn from her

What is your proudest competitive achievement so far in your professional career? I think for me my favorite achievement has been qualifying for the tour, it was something I’ve been working towards my whole life and for a while I didn’t know if it would be possible but I was proud I stuck with it and made it happen.

Who do you travel with on tour or do you go free solo? I travel with a variety of people, sometimes with my coach or fiancée, this year I’ll be traveling mostly with Imai Devault one of my close friends on the tour.

Basic physical training regiment when you’re not surfing? What tools do you use? Who do you train with? I’ve done all kinds of training and am always looking for new things to improve my surfing but I feel the best when I’m doing lots of plyometric training to improve my explosiveness and also doing consistent yoga to work on my flexibility. When I am at home I train at Nakoa with Ryan Gallop we’ve been working together for a long time now.

What other activities do you do when the waves are flat? I don’t have very many hobbies outside of surfing right now, last offseason I went on a hiking trip and really enjoyed it maybe I’ll try to do more of that. I watch a lot of basketball and football games during the season and love playing fantasy for both sports. When the waves are flat, most of the time I’m just training haha.

What do you eat while on tour? Do you eat whatever you can find or do you have a consistent diet that you stick to? If so, what does that look like? I like to cook a lot whether I’m on the road or at home. I feel like the routine of cooking makes me feel at home no matter where I am. Mostly I just eat really simple stuff, something like rice, chicken, and veggies or steak, salad and potatoes. I have fun making different marinades for the meats to keep it interesting but I seem to feel the best when I’m eating simple meals so I try to stick to that.

Favorite music that you are listening to right now? Right now I’ve been listening to a lot of reggae music and old school rock, some country songs too. I like to listen to all kinds of stuff and I’m always looking for new sounds. My favorite artists right now are Peter tosh, Damien Marley, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, and Hank Williams Jr

Which surfer, not on tour, do you think is the most underrated or your fav, from anywhere in the world? My brother Nick really is one of the best surfers in the world and the way he approaches barrels and airs really inspires me. He is my favorite person to surf with for sure it doesn’t happen all the time anymore because I’m gone so much but our sessions together are so much fun.

Anything outside of the box that you want to share? Any projects you are working on, good books you read, hobbies you’ve been doing? I’m getting married this September so really excited for that! To be honest I don’t have anything that exciting that I’ve been doing, just been psyching on trying to get better at surfing. I’m on the bubble for my fantasy basketball playoffs so I’m locked in on that right now too, lol!