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‘Wave of your life is waiting for you’ | 06:15
With the opening event of the WSL 2025 season just days away, there’s plenty to look forward to for Australian surf fans this year, not to mention some uncharted territory in amongst a revamped WSL world tour.
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From shock news on the eve of the season, to a heavy hitting new finals location, a wave pool event in Abu Dhabi, as well as the key Aussies in the hunt for the ultimate prize in surfing; foxports.com.au takes a look at the big talking points heading into a new WSL year.
BOMBSHELL FROM SUPERSTARS ON EVE OF FIRST EVENT
Reigning world champion John John Florence has officially announced he won’t be looking to defend his title in 2025 – stepping back from competition. Another former world champion in Gabriel Medina also revealed to fans that injury would rule him out of at least the first few events of the year.
The news means two of the biggest threats and rivals to Australia’s Jack Robinson won’t be there, opening the door even more for the frontrunner from down under, as well as the rest of the competition.
Aussie surfing legend and multiple world champ Steph Gilmore was also eyeing a return to the WSL, but also announced she won’t be returning. Gilmore will instead continue working on her recovery from ongoing injuries.
‘A TRUE WAVE OF CONSEQUENCE’: CLOUDBREAK TO DECIDE ‘25 WSL CT FINALS
Moving the finals to Cloudbreak Fiji, after several years in the smaller surf of Lower Trestles, California, has shaken up the 2025 calendar.
Many surf fans were thrilled by the news, with questions raised in recent years over the wave quality to decide the champion at the last stop on tour.
WSL commentator Ronnie Blakey summed up the difference between the two places perfectly.
“I would be confident taking my 11 year old daughter to Trestles and her catching a wave there, I wouldn’t let her get off the boat at Cloudbreak,” Blakey said.
“Cloudbreak finals are the ultimate exclamation on what is already an impressive schedule. While Trestles is consistent, Cloudbreak just brings a whole different element. Imagine you’re surfing off for a world title at a location that can hold twenty foot waves – (fingers crossed we get them!)
“There’s no fear at Trestles except maybe not getting the wave you need to turn a heat, the fear at Cloudbreak is sometimes the wave that’s coming.”
Brother and fellow WSL commentator Vaughan Blakey is another huge fan of the updated calendar.
“This has the potential to be up there with those glory years,” he said.
“If we get pumping surf at some of these locations, it could even eclipse those years. Ending this thing in waves of pure truth at Cloudbreak is just too tantalising as a surf fan. We want to see world titles decided in waves that really mean something.”
Making the finals is no easy feat across a long season, however should Australia’s 2024 top five finalists, Jack Robinson and Molly Picklum, make it to the show down in Fiji, both have the skillset to revel in the new finals location.
‘SURFING THE FUTURE’: THE PROS AND CONS OF THE WAVE POOL
Following the first stop at notorious Pipeline Hawaii, where a familiarity with the ocean couldn’t be more crucial, comes the Abu Dhabi Pro, where surfers will look to shine in a saltwater wave pool that will require a completely different approach.
Some of the competitors who have already trained at the venue described it as a “surreal” experience, with up and coming Aussie surfer George Pittar excited by the prospect.
“It’s pretty crazy having an event there, it feels like you’re surfing the future. It’s a different kind of pressure with what you do with the wave in the wave pool. My first ever wave over there training, I actually fell off,” he laughed.
“It was nerve-wracking in a different way. In a way the wave pool is the ultimate testing ground in that it becomes an even playing field for everyone, you don’t have an excuse.”
Women’s surfing legend Sally Fitzgibbons, meanwhile, reflected on the big evolution she’s seen regarding wave pools.
“It was just a concept that Kelly (Slater) had a one stage, this thought of a wave pool,” she said.
“We kind of laughed a bit at first like ‘yeah right’. As whispers became reality it never ceases to amaze me how far it’s come. Now you have commercial wave pools where the public can book in for a session.
“It is obviously a more sterile environment compared to the nature of ocean surfing, half the battle in the ocean is understanding there’s a power bigger than you, and you have to connect with it, whereas with the pool, there will be kids that learn to surf in the pool and not the ocean, and it will become more like a skate-run, snowboard run where we also see a range of all new tricks which is exciting too.
“I think surfing can be many things, and there’s room for different forms. I’m especially excited for surf enthusiasts who live in places not close to the ocean, and this being an entry level for them to the sport.”
THE BRAVE NEW ERA OF WOMEN’S SURFING
When Central Coast local Molly Picklum charged her way to the first perfect ten at Pipeline on the women’s WSL Tour, it marked a historic moment for women’s surfing.
While the current crop of young competitors heap praise on the early women’s surfing pioneers, they also continue to build upon the new opportunities.
“That ten point ride…we’ll watch it as a highlight reel for years and years to come,” said Ronnie Blakey.
“Her performance last year was a game changer for the sport. There’s been plenty of trailblazers before Molly for women’s surfing in waves of consequence, but this was something we hadn’t seen before. She looked like someone who grew up surfing Pipe.
“The performance of Caitlin Simmers and Betty Lou Sakura Johnson there too was a tectonic shift in women’s surfing, it will never be the same.”
Molly herself credited two Aussies in particular when it comes to her development on tour. “Growing up Steph Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons were everything I watched. I had two really great role models rights there of how it can be done, and how your own style can work for you,” said Picklum.
Molly Picklum surfs in Heat 2 of the Semifinals at the Lexus Pipe Pro on February 10, 2024 at Oahu, Hawaii. (Photo by Brent Bielmann/World Surf League)Source: Getty Images“This year I’m excited for Pipe again for sure. It excites me the challenge of knowing a ten point ride can be out there, and I want to be a really attacking surfer that goes for it.”
Vaughan Blakey, meanwhile, was amazed at how quickly Picklum and other young surfers on the women’s tour have soared.
“Last year women’s surfing changed overnight,” he said.
“We said farewell to eight time world champion, our very own Steph Gilmore, as well as Carissa Moore, and you would be forgiven for thinking it would take a while to fill that gap.
“Then we get the first comp of the year where we saw performances of a level we’ve never seen before.”
YOUNG CANADIAN THE NEXT SUPERSTAR?
An exciting mix of veterans and new stars will face off in the mens and women’s tour in 2025, but Vaughan Blakey believes there is one seventeen year old surfer in particular that could be in a league of their own.
“American-Canadian Erin Brooks is a terrifying prospect for everyone on tour,” he said.
“For surf fans, she could be a new superstar we have been waiting for. I think she could rewrite the entire book. She will be a joy to watch.
“I would go as far to say she could be a wildcard that comes out of nowhere to take out a rookie world title, just like Steph Gilmore did.
“Erin Brooks reminds me of Gabriel Medina and John John Florence in the sense that we could see those guys coming from a long way away as being something special. You could see their trajectory to greatness even when they were young. She is like that.
“In the last two years, she has started surfing in ways that are scary. Huge commitment, fearless in big surf. She doesn’t have a weakness.”
NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR AUSSIES
With Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast back on the Championship Tour, joining Margaret River and Bells Beach in the Aussie leg, we can expect some special WSL moments on home soil in 2025.
Veteran Fitzgibbons is among the Aussie contingent already eyeing off the home events, and the boost of that support.
“Anywhere at home in Australia just brings so much joy,” she said.
“Knowing so many people on the beach, people you’ve grown up with, judges that may have watched you surf for 25 years. Those steps at Bells are just so special to walk down, and the same with the atmosphere at Snapper Rocks and being at Margaret River.
“I know eight year old me is so excited I’m still there surfing those spots. It lights me up inside.”
Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia competing in the 2016 Fiji Women’s Pro at Cloudbreak, Fiji. (Photo by Ed Sloane/World Surf League via Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesJack Robinson gave his home state plenty to cheer about at the Margaret River Pro last year, winning against the world number one in the final.
Will other Aussie competitors find that glory in the home stages in 2025? The crowds will definitely play their part to help make that happen.
Commentator Vaughan Blakey is as excited as the competitors about the Snapper return.
“It’s a high performance wave, it lays a perfect canvas for every surfer to show what their capable of. It might be the event I’m looking forward to the most,” he said.
“Now days on tour, you get great crowds at all these marque events. Even Margaret river where the action is quite far away, you can feel and hear the throb of the masses on the beach.
“Bells is obviously as close to a stadium feel as you get in surfing. But it’s hard to go past the Gold Coast for atmosphere in Australia. You can wade in to the water waist deep and be a stone’s throw away from where the action is!
“The crowd was so loud for a local win in the Challenger series there last year, imagine it with the Championship tour back there! It will be pretty special on that beach.”
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