It's not what you think.

There is no Pipeline today nor was there any Pipeline yesterday but when the waves turn-ish on for the World Surf League’s first stop of the 2025 championship tour season, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons will be there in singlet, ready to battle Tatiana Weston-Webb and Luana Silva in heat one.

An extraordinarily long surfing life.

The 34-year-old New South Welshwoman burst onto the competitive professional surfing scene two decades ago with as Association of Surfing Professionals Pro Junior Open win. She jumped onto the dream tour in 2009, finishing 5th, and has been there ever since, minus a snag, battling with the best of the best.

But how, in this day and age of mental health years off and adventure sabbaticals, how does Fitzgibbons maintain her passion for this sport of queens? She has just revealed the secret.

Surfing is my life. I want to talk about it, I want to do it, I want to represent it. All these things drive me to keep a spot on the world tour,” the effervescent brunette told Fox Sports Australia. “It is the curiosity that keeps me going. I’ve really admired athletes both male and female that have pushed the age limits. For me it’s the drive, the love, and most importantly in surfing – the creativity. After 20 years if I displayed the same things to these judges, it would be getting a little bit drab, and I wouldn’t get the scores.”

But also, “I’ve also fallen in love with the process, or what they call ‘the grind’ as an athlete. That training and repetition can be for some people the thing that makes them depart the sport, you hear it all the time ‘I’m not really ready to do that work anymore to get to the top’ but I’ve always loved the work. Whether I was competing or not, I’d still find a challenge in my life, or an outlet for that. We’re never a perfect product, and when you stop seeking that perfection, you find the fun in remodelling it all.”

So, in a word, masochism.

Do you think the ageless Kelly Slater is also a masochist or does he possess a different psychological dynamic? The 11-time world champion will be taking on Italo Ferreira and Sammy Pupo in heat five when the Banzai cranks to life. Filipe Toledo will be against Barron Mamiya and Alejo Muniz in heat eleven.

And please don’t forget “people need to know that we’re humans, not machines.”

The end.

"We can’t wait to get our old Dickies shorts back on and rock this summer!”

There was a time, precisely thirty years ago, when chain wallets were a marker of exquisite taste, plaid could be mixed and matched with many other plaids, male hair was best in shades of dayglo plus spiked and music selected by the surf film impresario Taylor Steele formed the soundtrack of our lives.

The golden middle-1990s through middle-aughts. A decade of carefree livin’ and immature lovin’.

Well, those who miss their salad years will be thrilled to learn that the distressed cobbler Vans is bringing back its Warped Tour for 2025 and stocking the show with wonderful nostalgia acts. Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup, Dance Hall Crashers, Miss May I, Chandler Leighton and Pennywise have already been announced, but festival heavies plan to announce new acts each day over the next thirty.

Dates, thus far, include, Washington, D.C. (June 14-15) at the Festival Grounds at RFK Campus; Long Beach, CA (July 26-27) at Downtown Long Beach Shoreline Waterfront; and Orlando, FL (Nov. 15-16) at Camping World Stadium Campus.

Kevin Lyman, who founded the Warped Tour in 1995, told Variety, “Putting together a lineup is never an easy task, but each act, both new and returning, plays an important role in delivering an unforgettable experience for fans, especially at the price point we’re offering. We collaborated closely with the bands to create some exciting surprises, exclusive content, and more for fans to enjoy. So follow along, soak in the journey, and who knows—you might just discover your next favorite band!”

Simple Plan drummer Chuck Comeau added, “When we started hearing rumors that Warped Tour might be coming back in 2025, we were so excited! Warped has been a huge part of our journey as a band – from playing the smallest side-stage back in 2001 to the multiple cross-country treks over the years, the Warped Rewind at Sea cruise, Warped Australia and the final run in 2018, Warped has always felt like home. We’re thrilled that so many pop-punk fans will get a chance to relive their best teenage summer memories one more time and that an entire new generation will get to experience what our scene is all about. Getting the chance to be a part of such an iconic festival once again is a privilege and we can’t wait to get our old Dickies shorts back on and rock Washington DC this summer!”

Will you be attending?

Please buy tickets here.

"You better go on this or you will never catch a wave here again grom!"

Last week, David Lee Scales and I enjoyed a live version of our weekly podcast at the Belly-Up in Solana Beach. The stars of the eve were the great Rusty Preisendorfer, Taylor Knox and Jojo Roper who shared stories of truth and grit with an impressive and engaged audience.

It was all more personal for one man sitting amongst The People™.

Mr. Hand, you see, had once, long ago, encountered the aforementioned big wave hellman at a scary San Diego slab. What happened in the water haunting him to this very day.

Here is his story.

I want to thank you guys for a wonderful evening at the Belly Up. My wife and I went and had a lovely time.

Now for something not so lovely. I have a Pros in the Wild regarding Jojo Roper and to be clear the not so lovely part is in reference to me, not Jojo.

This was back in 2008 when I was a junior in high school and was filled with the unmerited confidence that many high schoolers have. What better place to prove myself than the legendary La Jolla reefs.

That winter I had some fleeting successes at this break to add to my unmerited confidence, so I was especially pumped to see a decent swell in the forecast. The big day came; the crowd was heavy and the waves were even heavier. Knowing my place, I relegated myself to the shoulder and picked off any scraps that would come my way.

After hours of shoulder sitting, the session changed. People went in, the tide sucked out and what was left were staircasing slabs on nearly dry reef, myself, and a handful of guys including one Jojo Roper.

I looked over the edge on a couple but only saw barnacles below. At this point I knew I should not be out there. The remaining crew, Jojo included, were making drops I could never dream of and getting absolutely barreled. But my young hubris would not let me go in until I caught one of those monsters.

A set was approaching and it was swinging wide – right to the shoulder. Jojo was paddling back out and he could clearly see my timidness. Jojo looks me straight in the eyes and says “You better go on this or you will never catch a wave here again grom!”

Heart racing, I put my head down and paddled as hard as I could. I felt the wave start lifting me up and I saw the water sucking out below, but I was too late. I pulled back. Being called into a wave by a local legend would be a high schooler’s dream, and I blew it. I didn’t even look back as I started the ultimate paddle of shame.

I have come back to that spot a few times over the years but haven’t gotten any more than scraps and eggy crowds including high school groms who can actually shred. Jojo’s curse has stuck.

Fast forward 16 years and I am sitting in the audience with the buzzed-head sorcerer himself. DLS has opened the mic for questions I have the prime opportunity to have the curse mercifully lifted. But, just like how I pulled off that wave, I stay lips sealed, nervously glued to my seat as DLS announced last call for any questions echoed in my head.

Jojo’s curse will endure and I will continue a living a life forever on the shoulder.

Brave to share. but do you have a similar story? Out in a rising sea, trembling internally? Did you stiffen your spine or shame paddle?

You are amongst friends.