Sally Fitzgibbons. Photo by Thiago Diz/World Surf League)
The rankings will look nothing like this when the WSL packs it up and leaves Western Australia two months from now. But the cut line looms large over both sides of the Championship Tour from the moment things kick off in Hawaii now, and the Australian leg has been a point where the picture becomes clear — who will and who won’t finish out the full season? The desperation really kicks in at Margaret River, the conversations crank up at Bells. Here are a handful of names that stand out now and will be fodder for those conversations at Bells:
Kelly Slater
Let’s just get the most obvious one out of the way. Slater is the lowest-ranked surfer on the men’s side right now but his status may have the largest impact on any other athlete in the mix. Why’s that? Because if I had to bet money on it, I’d wager the 11-time champion will leave the tour when he decides to, not when the rankings do.
It’s easy to imagine the fresh news that he and Kalani Miller are expecting a baby could be a nudge toward retirement. Then again, the entire surf world has been forecasting Kelly’s retirement announcement every new year for the past decade and counting. If there’s one thing I think we can actually predict now it’s that he’ll go out on his own terms. Don’t agree? Ok, just imagine being the WSL official who’d tell Kelly Slater “no” if he does decide he wants to continue the second leg of the season with a wildcard. If that happens then somebody else currently on tour is getting relegated to the Challenger Series.
Sally Fitzgibbons
Sally is in danger of missing the cut for a third year in a row. That’s a big swing from her status as a perennial world title threat before the cut was instituted. Her last event win came in 2021 at the Rottnest Search and she finished third in the overall rankings later that year. Since then she’s mostly struggled to make it past the quarterfinals at the CT level but qualified for this year by finishing second on the 2023 Challenger Series.
Whatever the outcome in Australia, Sally’s going to have a lot of people rooting to see her climb into the top 10.
(Most Of) The Men’s Rookies
Crosby Colapinto is the only men’s rookie sitting safely above the cut line (1oth) after events at Pipe, Sunset, and Supertubos. Much of that is thanks to a run to the semis in Portugal and a jump seven spots up the leaderboard. Meanwhile, rookies Eli Hanneman, Cole Houshmand, and Kade Matson are all still getting their feet under them at the CT level. Jacob Willox, who had a ton of wildcard appearances on the CT before qualifying for the tour full-time this year, is holding down the last spot above the cut.
Neither Ian Gentil or Rio Waida set the CT on fire in their 2023 debuts either. They did manage to squeak out the cut and started turning in more consistent results the second half of the year though. It shouldn’t be a surprise if one or most of this year’s rookies can do the same.
The Women’s Rookies
Noticing a trend this year? The top five of the women’s rankings are dominated by the younger wave of Molly Picklum, Caity Simmers, and Bettylou Sakura Johnson. The rookies that came up right behind them, however, are still getting into the swing of things.
Rookies Sawyer Lindblad and Alyssa Spencer are each looking for their first run past the Round of 16 on the CT but they’re not exactly falling against soft competition. All of their exits this year have either come against the trio of young phenoms Simmers, Sakura Johnson, and Picklum, defending world champ Caroline Marks, and Tyler Wright en route to her Finals appearance in Portugal.
