“You Can’t Just Eat Tomatoes For A Year” 

Two years ago, we came across a clip of a then-10-year-old girl doing large and very technical airs at Waco Surf. 

And the legend of Patti Zhou was born. 

But, we surfers were late to the party. 

Patti had already made a Dew Tour final in snowboarding — the youngest to ever do it — and gave an iconic interview thereafter. “It’s easy,” she reasoned to Chris Cote post-heat, before saying that she intended to use her prize money to buy her coach tequila. 

What’s not to love? 

Patti’s now 13. In the past few years, she’s won a national snowboarding title in her home country of China and nearly beat Kiara Goold in the Ladybird division of the 2024 Stab High in Japan. 

And, she just picked up a new deal with Swatch. Patti joins Noah Beschen, who signed with the Swiss watch brand last year, and Coco Ho, who has been with Swatch for years (and designed her own collection). 

Her goal is to become the first athlete to compete in both snowboarding and surfing at the Olympics. Which, frankly, seems rather achievable for someone with her capabilities. Patti says her attraction to both sports helps her avoid boredom or burnout with either, leading to the eloquent tomato quote we lifted for the headline. 

“I love both of them the same — there’s a balance,” Patti told us in an interview. “Surfing can let me be very aggressive, and help my mind become stronger. Snowboarding is peaceful, everyone is friends and they’re hyping each other up. And, you can go BIG on a snowboard, and go really fast, like Formula One.”

In the not-so-hypothetical event of a Stab High in 2025 (official announcement coming soon), Patti would not-so-hypothetically want to claim that Ladybirds crown — a prophecy we put forth when we came across that first clip. It’s about time. Speaking of which, here’s Patti again: 

“Time is the same for everyone. It is the only thing in the world that everyone has. Everyone has a 24-hour schedule. The only difference is how they use it,” says Patti in the presser from Swatch. 

You know, just in case you’re in the market for mildly philosophical life advice from an extraordinarily talented 13-year-old.