Born: June 2006
Hometown: Hammock, Florida
Sponsors: O’Neill, Nixon, FCS, Sun Bum, Oakley, Channel Islands, Surf Station
Local spot: Flagler Beach Pier, Florida
Favorite spots: Hermosa and Esterillos, Costa Rica and Lowers, California
Braeden Kopec started surfing competitively at an early age when he did his first ESA contest at just 3 ½ years old. And while he loves to free surf, it’s the competitive side of surfing that he really enjoys. Braeden hits his local Florida breaks of Flagler Beach Pier and New Smyrna Inlet daily. He spends a few months each year traveling in Costa Rica, California, and Puerto Rico and all over the U.S. East Coast.
He first competed at the NSSA National Championships at Huntington Beach at the young age of 7. His podium finishes at the Volcom VQS (2016) and Rip Curl Grom Search (2016 & 2017) east coast tour stops qualified him to compete at the both Volcom VQS National Championships at Lowers at age 9 followed by the Rip Curl Grom Search Nationals in California at age 10 and again at 11. He competed in his first USA Surfing Prime National Championships held at Lowers at just 10 years old. In 2017, at age 11, he finished in the semi-finals of the very competitive U18 division at USA Surfing’s North Carolina stop.
In late 2015 at age 9 he won his first East Coast title. He would go on and win two more East Coast titles in 2017, including the coveted NSSA Open division. In addition to his titles, Braeden’s young surfing career also includes a few runner-up finishes at East Coast Championship events for NSSA and ASF as well as ESA Regional Championship podium finishes.
In 2016 Braeden joined Team O’Neill (https://us.oneill.com/blogs/groms/braeden-kopec). That same year Braeden became the youngest surfer to ever be named to the Eastern Surfing Association’s All Star Team. He was named to the team again for 2018.
Follow Braeden on Instagram: @braedenkopec
Check out Braeden’s edit (Jan. 2018): https://vimeo.com/252625732