Caroline Marks Talks Body Image, Equal Pay and When She Knew She Wanted to Surf ‘Forever’

The gold medalist returns to the fold for the 2025 SI Swimsuit Issue.

Caroline Marks is certainly no stranger to adventure.

At 23 years old, the 2023 World Surf League women’s World Tour champion and gold medal-winning Olympian—having taken home the honor in surfing in the 2024 Paris Olympics—returns to SI Swimsuit after making her debut back in 2020. The Florida native went back to her Sunshine State roots for the shoot, where she was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton.

For her latest adventure, Marks sat down for an exclusive interview on the set of her Boca Raton photo shoot. The athlete opened up about several personal topics, sharing her unique insight after years of experience in surfing to the forefront.

She knew surfing was forever

Marks—who began surfing competitively at just 8 years old—has always known the sport of competitive surfing was special to her, but it turned out there was a specific moment when the decorated athlete knew she wanted to do so “forever.”

“I was competing at Lower Trestles over in Southern California. I just remember all the girls I was competing against saying they’re the best girls in the world,” Marks said. “And then I ended up winning, and I was like ‘Well, I must be pretty good at this,’ you know? Like, if I just won against all the best girls.”

But there were, of course, sacrifices to be made when beginning a sport professionally at such a young age, with Marks adding, “Obviously, I missed out on things like prom and homecoming and, you know, normal school life. It’s impacted my life a lot in the way that it hasn’t been ‘normal,’ but I don’t want to be normal, so I enjoy it.”

View Caroline Mark’s full 2025 SI Swimsuit gallery here.

On the Olympics

Two of Marks’s many accolades include having competed at the Olympics in 2021 and 2024 (she took home the gold medal at last year’s Games in women’s shortboard). And, having been able to take on one of the grandest stages an athlete can in their career, the surfing superstar has a special place in her heart for the games.

“It’s one of the only things that brings the entire world together, and it’s pretty amazing,” Marks said of her experience. “For me, you know, it’s the second time that surfing’s ever been in the Olympics ever, and so to be a part of it both years has been amazing, and to see how much attention is brought to the sport has been so incredible.”

Caroline Marks was photographed by Ben Horton at The Boca Raton. Swimsuit by Cotton On. / Ben Horton/Sports Illustrated

Her struggles around body image

When it comes to how Marks views herself, she’s not afraid to be candid about the struggles she’s faced when it comes to her body image, admitting she “definitely” struggles with it from time to time, while also understanding where those feelings come from.

“It’s not only that I’m a professional athlete, but I’m also in a sport where I’m always in a bikini, and it is very exposing,” Marks said. “I think for me, it was weird because there would be, like, thousands of positive comments and then, like, one negative one, and unfortunately, sometimes you just focus on the negative one.”

Still, Marks shared that what helps her grapple with any struggles is her understanding around why someone may comment negatively online, and how their actions speak more to their headspace than hers, adding, “At the end of the day, I think when people are making negative comments about you, it’s usually their own insecurity, and I think just learning that has been really helpful.”

On equal pay for women in surfing

As a woman in sports, Marks understands the pay gap is a constant issue, especially having experienced both sides of the scale back-to-back.

“My first year on tour, there wasn’t equal pay, but my second year on tour, it became equal pay, so things happened very fast,” Marks said. “I remember I was talking to Stephanie Gilmore one time—she’s one of my biggest heroes and, you know, the greatest of all time in surfing—and she was like, ‘Gosh, your timing was so good! Like, I remember at your age, I was making this amount of money, and it’s crazy!’”

But Marks doesn’t take for granted how equal pay in her field came to be, nor all of the hard work the women who came before her, adding, “For me, I just want to thank all the girls who came before me that really paved the way for me.”