A rendering of the new pool in Draper, Utah. Photo: USA Surfing//YouTube
As the LA 2028 Olympics approach, USA Surfing announced a partnership with a new wave pool being developed in Utah, saying it will play a key role in its high-performance training. The facility in Draper, Utah — part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area — was approved by the city council last week. While news reports didn’t indicate which wave pool technology would be selected, USA Surfing’s marketing materials show that Endless Surf is the chosen system.
Endless Surf launched its first pool in Munich, Germany in 2024. The company opened a second pool in Saudi Arabia and has projects underway in Florida, Mexico, Brazil, England, and Australia.
The deal centers around a partnership with Kamaka Responsible Development, the company behind the Utah pool and title sponsor of USA Surfing’s 2026 championships.
It’s unclear why USA Surfing chose to partner with a pool that won’t be open until, at the earliest, 2028, when there are already several pools open and operating in California, Texas, and Virginia. It may indicate that the organization has a particular affinity towards Endless Surf’s technology, which doesn’t yet exist in the U.S. USA Surfing didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
Ironically, the new pool partnership is being built just down the road from U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s headquarters in Park City, Utah. In April, a year-long dispute between the U.S. ski and surf governing bodies over control of Olympic surfing came to an end when USA Surfing was granted Olympic certification status, which it had previously relinquished after the Tokyo 2020 Games due to financial and governance issues.
Todd Kline, who was appointed surf athlete commissioner for USA Surfing earlier this year, said that the partnership is a “major milestone for our athletes to reach their full potential.”
“We’re helping shape future infrastructure of American surfing,” Kline said.
The 2001 world champion CJ Hobgood also appeared in the marketing material, raving about Endless Surf’s air sections.
The new Endless Surf pool is part of a larger development called Veranda West, which includes 418 residential units, retail shops, and restaurants.
