By the age of 13, Khadjou Sambe had fallen in love with surfing. But surfing is a male-dominated sport in her home country of Senegal, and it’s rare to find women riding the waves. It’s even rarer to see women of color, especially Black women, surfing—something Sambe quickly became aware of as she began progressing in the sport. Despite the odds, she kept going, fueled by a growing love of being in the water.

Fast forward 11 years later and Sambe, now 24, has her sights set on competing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, under the guidance of her coach, Rhonda Harper. After Harper recruited Sambe to compete in a surf competition in Sierra Leone in 2014, she invited her to California to train, and from there, the organization Black Girls Surfwas born, helmed by Harper with the support of Sambe. Together, the two have since opened free surf camps all over California and Africa, in places like Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, to inspire and train other young girls of color to ride the waves…