Ruby Trew

When her dad plonked Ruby Trew on a surfboard at the age of six months and pushed her into her first wave, he probably had no idea what an amazing ride he was starting her on.

Ruby’s father James, who emigrated from Wales to Sydney’s northern beaches in 1999 in search of a better life and better waves, had ignited her passion for surfing.

A few years later he did the same thing with skateboarding. “I started skateboarding when I was five,” Ruby said. “My dad bought a skateboard and I said I wanted to have a go and so I tried it and I liked it.”
Unable to choose between the two sports, she stuck with them both. By the age of six, Ruby was entering grom contests for both surfing and skateboarding and the successes started rolling in.

At 10, she was traveling overseas to compete in top-tier skating events, claiming silver in the women’s vert contest at the World Championships in Barcelona in 2019. 

In surfing, she became the 2019 NSW under-12 state champion and won the Oz Grom competition for under-12 girls at Lennox Head.

Ruby is now seen as a star of the future in two Olympic sports and has been targeted by the talent identification programs of both Surfing Australia and Skateboarding Australia.

Although Ruby rarely misses a chance to get out in the surf, her focus at the moment is on skateboarding.

At the 2022 Park Skateboarding World Championships, Ruby finished 10th, narrowly missing a place in the final.

Back in Australia she continued to work hard and in 2023 she won silver in the World Skateboarding Pro Tour event in San Juan, Argentina. The event featured 179 skateboarders all trying to claim ranking points towards qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

Ruby left her best until last, scoring an impressive 86.16 on her final run, giving her second place behind Tokyo bronze medallist Sky Brown of Britain.

Going to Paris means even more to Ruby after her chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics was cruelly snatched away.

Ruby was part of the Australian team competing in the United States in 2021, fighting for the final points she needed to qualify for the Games.

“I got to the semi-finals and then the coach got Covid-19 and a few other people got Covid before him and they had to disqualify us from the comp,” Ruby said.

“If I would have gotten to the finals I would have gone to Tokyo, but that is just the way it is. It was very disappointing. I had a lot to bring and I was super excited, but no one could do anything about it. It wasn’t their fault they got Covid, it just happened.

“I was pretty bummed for a few weeks, but then I decided to get over it and keep skating and moving on.”

To ensure she makes the most of her second Olympic opportunity, Ruby is concentrating on training – which means splitting her time between skating, surfing and school work.

She spends close to 40 hours a week either surfing, skating or at the gym – with her weekends consisting of a two-hour morning surf session, a three-hour skate, a gym session and another two hours of surfing or skating in the afternoon.

“(During the week) I wake up at around six and then get in the water for surfing around seven … to like 8.30am, get out, go to school at 9am,” Ruby said. “And then I might leave school at like 1.30pm and then go skate until maybe like 4pm, and then I might go for another surf or I might go for another skate after that and then wake up the next day and do the same thing over again.”

Ruby hopes to continue competing internationally in both her sports and after Paris she could switch her focus to the surf, aiming to win a place in the Australian team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“I would love to go and be on the World Championship Tour for surfing after the Paris Olympics,” she said. “I'd like to try and qualify for surfing (at the Olympics). Obviously trying to represent Australia is super hard because the girls are just amazing. But I guess I've just got to work hard and just try and improve both sports at the same time.”

Asked what advice she would give her younger self, Ruby shows a wisdom that belies her tender years “I would tell her, enjoy the journey along the way,” she said. “You never know what you can expect, so remember why you’re doing it, why you love it and who you’re doing it for.”