Molly Picklum, shortly before destruction. Photo: Surfing Australia HPP // YouTube
Molly Picklum’s meteoric rise has taken place during a banner year for women’s surfing. However, to call her just one of the best women’s surfers right now is underselling her abilities. She’s one of the most exciting new talents in surfing right now, period.
On the other hand, even the best still fail sometimes. In a video posted to YouTube by Surfing Australia’s High Performance Program, Picklum broke down what happened on a legitimately scary Teahupo’o wipeout she experienced one morning in October of 2023, during what Surfing Australia describes as a sort of training session for the upcoming Olympics.
As Molly broke down afterwards, things started to go awry pretty quickly after take off. “After I faded, I realized I shouldn’t have faded,” she explained. From there, it was a mad dash to pick up enough speed to make it out. “I thought I was pumping, but then I was doing the stupidest little pumps. It hurts my brain to think about it,” she described, in a sentiment that anyone who’s watched video of themselves surfing can empathize with.
Soon after, the wave erupted right in front of her. “I just felt like I was behind it, so I just braced myself rather than keep pumping, and then I just got absolutely obliterated,” said Picklum. “All pitch black. It was like: backflips, front flips, all of it.” Though she quickly popped up to the surface unharmed, Molly would end up taking two more waves directly on the head before getting out of there.
“It was my worst wipeout ever, but also the best vision I’ve had,” she summed up. “It was so stressful and crazy that I nearly don’t even remember the tube.”
Sometimes you just have to learn the hard way.
