Caity Simmers is just 18 years old, but already she’s taking the surf world by storm. The Oceanside local just won the 2024 Lexus Pipe Pro — a serious feather in the cap — in resounding fashion, and if her past is anything to judge by, it won’t be her last.
A few years ago, we were lucky enough to spend a bit of time with her in El Salvador to make a film.
“Caity Simmers is at the forefront of a generational movement of female surfers set to change the face of competition,” wrote Joe Carberry. “Airs, barrel riding, rail work, this Oceanside, California native has it all, and a style to go with it unlike any we’ve seen in recent years on the Championship Tour. But Caity’s head is in the right place. She was raised by two awesome parents, Ali and Jesse, and surfs for all the right reasons. After qualifying for the CT in 2022, she turned down the opportunity to travel the world so she could just be a kid.”
When she did decide to join the tour in 2023, it was immediately apparent that she was a force to be reckoned with on surfing’s biggest stage. She took first place at the MEO Rip Curl Portugal Pro and the VIVO Rio Pro, and was the runner up at the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro. When her first season on tour ended, she was ranked fourth. And with a win at the first event of 2024, she’s already building momentum for the year ahead.
The film you see above, which is an installment of Red Bull’s In Plain Sight series, follows Simmers around her hometown of Oceanside, San Diego.
“We hear Caity’s thoughts on the joys of competing and travel (spoiler alert: not in that order), we hang out with her brother Timo, meet an 11-year-old Caity who’s blissfully unaware of the life she has to come, see her fall off a skateboard multiple times, and in amongst a plethora of filthy tubes and wild turns we find out if she still catches lizards now that she’s all grown up,” the Red Bull Team wrote.
One of Caity’s best qualities is the fact that she doesn’t seem at all phased by the trappings of surf fame. As evidenced by the fact that she turned down the 2022 tour, her main focus isn’t necessarily on winning. Instead, it’s simply on surfing. Another one of her qualities, however, is that when she wants to win, she can be relentlessly competitive. And when you pair a pure love of riding waves with a competitive fire and the talent to back it all up, you’ve got a surfer who is surely going to go on to great things.
Editor’s Note: Watch our film about Simmers, Gen Up: Caity, here.
