"The judges are a fickle bunch. What they love
today, they may not score at all tomorrow. Get it while you can,
girl."
If Surfline is to be believed, and why wouldn’t be we
believe Surfline, the Lexus WSL Finals will take
place on Friday, the first day of the event waiting
period. Get in there and get it done. Surfline’s forecast claims
surf in the shoulder-to-head-high range. Your guess is as good as
mine as to what that will actually mean on the day.
Smaller, probably.
Caity Simmers sits on top of the world as the rankings leader,
but she’ll face a tough challenge from 2023 world champion and
Olympic gold medalist Caroline Marks. In fact, it’s hard not to see
Caroline as the favorite here, especially after she scored an upset
victory last year over Carissa Moore. Caity dazzles, but Caroline
rarely misses a beat.
I will try to be on the beach there at Trestles, if I can find
my way to that joint. Ah yes, the 405, we meet again. There’s a
heat wave on the forecast for Friday, so I might just spend the day
in the ocean. Surf contest? What surf contest? Certainly, I will
bring a bikini. And snacks. Snacks are very important. See you
there, maybe?
In the meantime, here’s a preview.
Caity Simmers
In her first two seasons on Tour,
Caity has matched a young Carissa’s dizzying
trajectory. Last year, Caity finished the regular
season ranked fifth and this year, enters Trestles as world number
one. Along the way to the top of the rankings, Caity won three
events this year, including Pipe. While an Olympic medal eluded
her, it’s hard to see how Caity could have improved on her season.
Sure, she still has things to work on. Every surfer does. But she’s
put in a dominant performance this year, no question.
Can Caity win the one-day grand slam-o-rama? Maybe. Trestles is
obviously plenty familiar to her. When she surfs her best, Caity is
stylish, jazzy, and dynamic. But she still makes mistakes that
crafty veterans like Caroline or Tati could exploit. Sometimes,
Caity can’t quite put her ideas into play and her surfing can look
rough around the edges. Of course, that’s what makes her
interesting.
Real talk: Caity will have a hard time beating Caroline, whose
smooth approach the judges will certainly reward. But, I’m pretty
sure the surfer we all want to watch is Caity. We never really know
what Caity is going to do next, and there’s magic in that.
As a bonus, here’s Caity’s pre-event press release quote. “It’s
pretty not real, but it’s also super real,” Simmers said. “It’s
pretty cool. Lowers is a super fun wave, and it’s kind of a
ridiculous life situation to be in, so I’ll just try to not think
about it at all.”
Right. Just don’t think about it.
Caroline Marks
In 2023, Caroline started Finals Day ranked third. She finished
the day as world champion. When she’s not traveling, Caroline lives
in San Clemente and the hours she’s spent at Trestles give her a
nice advantage. This season, she won Surf City El Salvador Pro and
an Olympic gold medal.
Caroline’s not at home in bigger surf, but that won’t matter at
Trestles. Her current ranking reflects a steady accumulation of
points. While Caroline wasn’t necessarily a stand-out this season,
she made the important heats and punched her ticket.
Despite her ranking, Caroline comes to Trestles as the favorite
to repeat as world champion. The judges love her near-metronomic
backhand and the flow that allows her to pack in the turns, one
after another. Is she overscored at times? Sure, she is. And as any
number of surfers have discovered over the years, the judges are a
fickle bunch. What they love today, they may not score at all
tomorrow. Get it while you can, girl. Caroline’s superpower is that
she rarely makes mistakes — and that will make her very hard for
Caity to beat.
Brisa Hennessey
The comeback queen, Brisa missed the cut in 2023, but has turned
her career straight around. Her stand-out result this year came at
the Shiseido Tahiti Pro, where she wrangled solid Tahiti on her
backhand. Local favorite Vahine Fierro beat her in the final, but I
confess, I did not have Brisa even making the final at Teahupo’o on
my bingo card. Good on her. I like surprises.
Ranked third ahead of Trestles, Brisa built her comeback on the
strength of consistency. She made four semifinals this year, and
she’s managed to convince the judges to give her the nod in several
close heats. That’s not an easy trick. She’s also managed to turn
the often small and inconsistent surf to her advantage. Some of
that is luck, of course. But it also requires some savvy heat
surfing and an ability to back herself, even when the odds look
steep. Getting past Caroline looks close to impossible for Brisa.
But so did making finals at Teahupo’o, and just look what
happened.
Molly Picklum
A girl who likes juice, Molly thrilled on the North Shore. She
scored a perfect ten in heaving
Pipe and finished second to Caity in a wave-starved
final. I wish there’d been more surfing in that final, given the
skills of both women. Alas. At the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, Molly
threw down a turn for the ages and won the event for the second
straight year. It was an awesome start to the year.
Molly has a less friendly relationship with small waves than she
does with the big, powerful scary shit. And there were a lot of
heats in small waves this year on Tour. She didn’t really thrive
out there this year until Fiji, where she found a wave with some
punch. After a semifinal finish at the Corona Fiji Pro, Molly
jumped into fourth in the rankings, equaling last year.
Trestles doesn’t necessarily suit Molly, and small Trestles
could be a battle for her. Last year, Molly lost to Caity in her
opening heat. Certainly, she has the skills and the progression to
go far here. There’s no reason she shouldn’t be able to beat Tati
and Brisa and make a run for the title. It’s hanging right there
out in front of Molly, but she’ll have to stretch to reach it.
Tati West
The surprise for me of this season had to be Tati’s performance at the Shiseido
Tahiti Pro. In legit solid Teahupo’o, she scored a
perfect ten and nearly beat Vahine. It was easily one of the best
heats of the year — and maybe ever — in women’s surfing. Tati also
won silver at the Olympics, though not in the gloriously
frightening conditions she surfed against Vahine. A second place
finish at Fiji slid her into the final five.
Starting from the bottom of the draw, Tati meets Molly first and
faces a long trek to the world title. In truth, I do not generally
think of Tati as a favorite for Trestles. But in 2021, she nearly
snatched the world title straight out from under Carissa, then
fresh off her Olympic gold medal. If she makes a run up the
rankings, I’d expect Tati to find Caroline a bit of a roadblock to
her world title dreams. But, she nearly beat one Gold medalist at
Trestles, so why not another?
