By beating Caity in the final, Tyler opened her 2025 season with a win at the Lexus Pipe Pro. It marked her second event victory at Pipe, after she won the 2020 edition of Honolua that finished at Pipe. In recent seasons, Tyler’s had a lengthy drought, and until Saturday at Pipe, she’d gone winless since the Rip Curl Bells Beach event in 2023. | Photo: @wsl

Surf journalist reveals “shock” after Tyler Wright easily beats world champ Caity Simmers at Pipeline

By Jen See

1 month ago

"I’ll confess I had to read that multiple times to believe it. I wondered if it was opposites day and no one had told me."

I am a bad correspondent, but you all know that by now. I am so easily distracted from the super important business of watching surfing heats. The sun comes out, there’s a bit of swell in the water, and off I go, leaving you to watch Tyler Wright’s double-grab cutback without me.

I am not even going to apologize for this crime.

By now, you’ve seen the results. Tyler Wright won the 2025 Lexus Pipe Pro by beating Caity Simmers in the final. I’ll confess I had to read that multiple times to believe it. I wondered if it was opposites day and no one had told me. It was not, in fact, opposites day.

If you only watch one heat, pick the semi-final between Caity and Molly Picklum. It was a total banger and a reminder, if we needed one, that they are currently the best two women in the world at surfing Pipeline. Go watch that thing.

As for the rest, well, I guess you could say that finals day was a land of contrasts. All four quarterfinal heats at the Lexus Pipe Pro were lopsided affairs and quite honestly slow going.

In the day’s first heat, Lakey Peterson beat Isabella Nichols with a heat total of 6.50. Isabella tried for a deep tube, but couldn’t wrangle her way out of it. There wasn’t much more to it.

Over the past few years, Tyler has become adept at slipping through tubes at Backdoor, and she put it to use in the second heat of the day.

In their quarterfinal match-up, Tyler smoked Caroline Marks. With her backside barrel riding looking super sus, Caroline only managed a 3.50 heat score. Tyler, meanwhile, cruised through this one with an 11.84. If you believe in foreshadowing, this heat was perhaps a good example of that sort of thing.

Watching Caity paddle out was like watching the main act take the stage after the opening bands. Immediately she showed her wizardry and found the kind of deep barrel that had eluded the rest of the field. Caity opened her quarterfinal against Sawyer Lindblad with a 7.00 that paired a smooth tube ride with a stylish finishing turn.

Surprisingly, Sawyer mostly watched this heat. She’s usually a feisty one, and has the skills, so I expected to see a more competitive heat from her. Girl, a 1.43 isn’t going to do it. Caity romped all over this one, and advanced with a 14.50.

In the last heat of the quarterfinals, Molly Picklum steamrolled through Brisa Hennessey. It wasn’t quite the commanding performance we might have expected from Molly, but she didn’t need to bring her best surfing to this one. Though she’s typically been a consistent heat surfer the past few years, Brisa couldn’t make anything happen in this one. She hit a couple close-outs and that was all she had to offer. Molly took it easily.

After missing the cut last year, Lakey will be happy to start her season with a semifinal finish at the Lexus Pipe Pro. On the opening exchange, it looked like it would be a close heat with both women scoring 6’s. Although Lakey’s improved at Backdoor she couldn’t match Tyler, who went from deep to score an 8.60. I will never love Tyler’s finishing turns, but her front side tube riding is solid, and she won this one readily.

When Caity and Molly paddled out, the energy level immediately lifted. They both came to play and it was the first heat that actually felt like high-level competition with well-matched surfers who each had the skills for the conditions. Caity and Molly are the future of women’s surfing and the rest of the field still has some work to do to catch up.

Molly got the first wave, but it wasn’t a score. Behind her, Caity dropped smoothly into a short, deep tube and made an easy exit. It earned her an 8.17, but Molly answered back. Using both arms to stall, Molly rode out of a longer barrel. She got hung up on the close-out turn, but it was enough to put her in the lead, which she held through a long lull. Caity needed a 3.84.

She got it and then some. Going from deep, Caity pumped through a chandelier and then disappeared. Emerging, she pulled her usual stylish finishing turn before looking for a tiny cover-up at the end. She didn’t find it, but that’s Caity: Always be looking for the barrel. It was technical, precise surfing from the best barrel rider in the game right now. A 9.50, the score put Caity into the lead.

Molly never gave up, but her second score, a 7.80, wasn’t enough. She hit a couple of close-outs, but couldn’t find another scoring wave. Molly can’t quite match Caity’s finesse in the tube, but her willingness to keep charging makes her a more than worthy rival for the 2024 world champ. I can’t wait to see their future match-ups and this heat delivered.

And it was always going to be a hard act to follow. The final was ruthlessly anti-climactic. The onshores rolled in and created speedbumps on the wave faces. What was left of the swell turned sleepy and inconsistent.

On her first ride, Caity face-planted on the take-off. From the camera angle, it was hard to see whether she hit windchop or if she simply slipped, but her magic seemed to desert her. Caity spent the heat pulling into close-outs and dropping low scores. Tyler only needed a 6.00 and a 1.70 to best the reigning world champion.

Next up, the Championship Tour heads next to Abu Dhabi to compete in the wave pool. The shift from Hawai’i, one of surfing’s birthplaces and its cultural home to a mechanical wave in the desert feels remarkably dystopian. Welcome to the future. The robots are coming for us. Mechanical is predictable, and the contest runs from 14-16 February. Clear your schedules.

With her win at Pipe, Tyler Wright takes over the top of the rankings as world number one.

She also heads to Abu Dhabi where it’s illegal to be gay.

Happy fucking Valentine’s Day.

Sportswashing is an ugly beast that requires constant feeding, human rights be damned.

I hate her cutback, but Tyler deserves better. We all do.

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Huntington Beach (pictured) in all its glory.

Insider declares Huntington Beach current favorite to host Los Angeles ’28 Olympic surfing!

By Chas Smith

1 month ago

Surf City, USA!

The surfing component of the ’28 Olympics was always going to be, and let’s just be very frank and to the point, a bummer. Host city Los Angeles, while wonderful, does not possess an overseas collectivity in the South Pacific and, thus, was going to have to send international heroes and heroines out in mediocre waves. While a few dreamers floated Kelly Slater’s magical Surf Ranch, three hours north, as a possible site, the International Surfing Association’s Fernando Aguerre has been decidedly anti-tub.

And so Lower Trestles and Huntington Beach emerged as favorites, both regularly hosting professional surfing events. But which of the two will win? An insider very close to the lever of Olympic surfing power has shared Huntington Beach is the current favorite.

The “challenge for Trestles,” the source shared, “is the Olympic ‘village,’ or mini tent city headquarters that goes up for two months and would take up limited space in the parking lot at the state park.” Huntington Beach, of course, has ample space for a tent city headquarters, anti-LGBTQ parade route and stage for a NOFX and Friends concert series.

Surf City, USA.

But do you imagine that the non-surfing Olympic fan, having experienced the glories of Teahupo’o during the ’24 Games, will thrill just as much for the Huntington Hop or will he/she claw at eyeballs whilst quickly changing the channel to the lawn dart event?

Also, will there be one of Huntington Beach’s famed surf-induced riots?

Much to ponder.

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Pointedly, for Tyler Wright, who is married to Lilli Baker, under Sharia same-sex sexual activity can be punishable by death, especially for married individuals.

Pipeline champ Tyler Wright to test the UAE’s harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws as surf tour shifts to Abu Dhabi

By Derek Rielly

1 month ago

The UAE is ruled by divine revelations coded into what is called Sharia Law. Homosexuality is illegal with jail terms of up to fourteen years.

After being garlanded with flowers and feted by the surfing world following her win at Pipeline yesterday, the queer two-time world champ Tyler Wright must now face her biggest challenge – testing the notoriously harsh anti-LGBT+ laws in the United Arab Emirates, site of next weekend’s wave tank event.

The UAE’s penal code is ruled by divine revelations coded into what is called Sharia Law. Homosexuality is illegal with jail terms up to fourteen years. Fines and imprisonment exist for a little gay kissing in public.

Pointedly, for Tyler Wright, who is married to Lilli Baker, under Sharia same-sex sexual activity can be punishable by death, especially for married individuals.

Four months ago, Tyler’s little brother Mikey launched a wild fusillade against the World Surf League after it unveiled the 2025 world tour, which included the event at the Abu Dhabi tank.

“You have no business putting on an event at a location where my sister can be sentenced by law with the death penalty. So much for equality and equal rights, only when it’s convenient to wsl. You have supported the LGBTQ flag on her shoulder but now you want to strip it and be hush hush to get her to a location that she’s at risk of this punishment. You have the responsibility to protect your athletes, interested to see how you think you can protect her against the law.”

Tyler Wright’s sister-in-law, Shenay, Mikey’s wife, added, “Nice to see you guys are factoring in the safety of the contestants lives when choosing locations.”

Still, while the UAE’s legal system theoretically allows for capital punishment for same-sex sexual activity under certain interpretations, in practice, there have been no verified reports of such sentences being carried out.
You might get one to fifteen in the can for being gay in the UAE, however.

As JP Currie beautifully put it,

“And so we move. From leis and aching green palm fronds to sapless sandy heat and guttural desert smoke. From surfing’s Mecca, the seven-mile-miracle to surfing’s apocalyptic nightmare. Slave pools and oily obscenity.”

Thoughts and prayers for all LGBTQ+ surfers, men included, although oowee gonna be hot in that closet, as the tour makes its Arabian debut.

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It was the kind of performance in sport that’s simply undeniable. Lebron in Game 7. Woods at the Masters. Maradona, Mexico ‘86. Call it a flow state, call in being in the zone, call it whatever you like. Barron Mamiya was never going to lose. | Photo: @WSL/Barron Mamiya

Barron Mamiya’s Pipeline performance the equal to “Lebron in Game 7, Woods at the Masters, Maradona, Mexico ‘86”

By JP Currie

1 month ago

From surfing’s Mecca the tour moves to surfing’s apocalyptic nightmare. Slave pools and oily obscenity. The WSL is nothing if not dystopian paradox.

The fan’s perspective of the WSL can be druggy. First comes the promise. The simmering elation of what might be. Then comes the reality. Brief euphorias you can’t quite sustain, questioning of choice and purpose. And then the inevitable comedown.

All is the same, just a little greyer and more hollow than before.

That’s how it felt at the start. It just wasn’t quite yesterday. The waves were considerably smaller and less threatening. It was “the kind of size that anyone at home could picture themselves in,” said Ross Williams.

“Friendly North Shore,” Kaipo added.

That’s how the day began, but certainly not how it ended.

Momentum was built and carried on the shoulders of Barron Mamiya, right next to the flag of Hawaii. Euphoria came and lingered awhile.

He was simply rolling. He’d been rolling since yesterday, notching perfect rides in front of partisan crowds. And today, he just kept on going.

It was the kind of performance in sport that’s simply undeniable. Lebron in Game 7. Woods at the Masters. Maradona, Mexico ‘86.

Call it a flow state, call in being in the zone, call it whatever you like. Mamiya was never going to lose.

In a subjectively judged sport, seeing an athlete in this state can induce vicarious pleasure. There is a group flow that exists. We root for the man on form. Fans and judges alike.

And in choosing between two Brazilians, an Italian and a Hawaiian, there was no real choice.

Mamiya’s victory was written in the salty stars of Hawaiian skies.

In his semi-final against Ferreira, he instantly found a deep Backdoor right, then threaded a left in quick succession. According to his patently cool post-heat analysis, the left surprised even him.

A 9.33 followed by a 9.57 left Ferreira gasping for more caffeine.

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This was Mamiya in peak flow. He’d slept on a cloud and awoken to crystal skies.

When the final came around, he was still up there.

“The beach is packed,” said Strider pre-final. “Everyone is surrounding him, but giving him enough space to let him feel the moment. He’s just like a little kid out here, but now he’s grown into this beautiful man. And he’s going out there, to take it down.”

Strider was his flamboyant, poetic best. He felt it. We all did.

Barron was the deity of the moment. Sand and air and water were one. The weight of past and future converged. As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment.

Mamiya was here, and this is where he was always meant to be. Everyone knew it.

Admittedly, this moment was somewhat soured by the unpleasant interlude of a Tyler Wright victory, but nothing’s perfect.

Undeterred by the vibe killer on the sand, Barron torched the line-up as soon as he hit the water.

He paddled furiously past Fioravanti for the first Pipe wave, dropping an 8.17 for the first of his keepers, then finding a Backdoor barrel for a low five, almost without drawing breath.

“That’s the advantage Barron has,” sparkled Ross Williams. “He doesn’t care if he’s a little too late or a little too deep.”

Fioravanti was to strike next. A long Backdoor barrel was a ten if he’d made it. And for a moment it looked like he would.

For Leo Fioravanti, Pipeline always presents an opportunity. Twice runner-up here, this wave seems to elicit his best.

But Mamiya’s next Backdoor wave was the mind killer. He weaved from deep, bending the cogs of time and exiting cleanly with a watchmaker’s precision.

9.80.

“It’s laughable,” said Jesse Mendes, without laughter. “What can you do about it? How can you stop him?”

For once, Mendes’ tone had appropriately turned rhetorical questions into statements.

A dual screen then showed us a pre-recorded interview with Mamiya. He was telling a story he hadn’t shared publicly before, about a freesurf at Pipe, just before he won there. It was his last wave of the session, and he was deep in a perfect barrel.

“I remember looking out. Then this feeling came on me in the barrel…this is going to sound really weird,” he interjects self-consciously. “And I was just standing there, looking at the view. And I remember it spit. And right when it spit, I remember this feeling of wow, I’m going to win this year. It was the craziest feeling. It was so defined. It almost felt like someone was there, or there was something going on. And I just felt it, like, instantly.”

Although he never used the term, he was describing a moment in flow, when everything slows. When you might see your past, present and future with a sudden ecstasy of clarity and connection.

And if not convinced by his words alone, note the way he stroked his arm as he began the story. The electricity of memory bringing goosebumps from past to present.

Luckily, lest we all got carried away in the grandeur of Mamiya’s elevated state of consciousness, Joe Turpel swooped in.

“He loves being a showman,” said Turpel like a vibe-robbing gull. “Wears a couple of chains. Listens to hip-hop a lot.”

Fioravanti, to his eternal credit, put his laces through two Backdoor waves in quick succession. The first, an 8.87, was superb. The second was much better. Those in the booth were quick to deem it the best wave of the heat. With Barron’s 9.8 on the board, there was no-where to go but ten.

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Replays of both waves showed Fioravanti covered for seconds longer. An eternity in barrel time.

But when the score came in at 9.10, Fioravanti’s vicious water slaps were justified.

He had been robbed by forces beyond our ken, but conveyed through the fingers of unseen judges.

Notably, the Brazilian judge who awarded a 10.00 for Barron’s 9.80, gave Fioravanti a mere 8.80 for his wave. I’d love to hear that side-by-side justification. But of course we never will.

At 17.97 apiece, it was only the second final in WSL history with a tied score (according to Joe).

As per the rules, Mamiya’s highest single score was definitive. The universe bent to his will once again.

Of the others, Italo was bridesmaid once more. He did little wrong, and has few flaws. His time will come again, always.

And what of Ian Gouveia?

What vast image troubles my sight? What shape with lion body and head of a man, gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun?

What Shark Coated rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches back on Tour and makes the semi final at Pipe?

Gouveia’s second coming is an unlikely story, and may well be as fleeting as the shadows of indignant desert birds, but he deserved his place here.

Of further deities: Kelly, post heat, was topless, trim, gracious, gorgeous.

“I like getting barrelled,” he stated when pressed by Strider about his future. “You can offer me a barrel anytime.”

And so we move. From leis and aching green palm fronds to sapless sandy heat and guttural desert smoke.

From surfing’s Mecca, the seven-mile-miracle to surfing’s apocalyptic nightmare. Slave pools and oily obscenity.

The WSL is nothing if not dystopian paradox.

Bring me the smoke and I’ll build you a fire.

See you in Abu Dhabi.

(And you, Kelly.)

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Tyler Wright (pictured) on a sexist Pyzel.

The British Broadcasting Corp. scorches sexists surfboard shapers in blistering industry takedown

By Chas Smith

1 month ago

"The industry has been monopolised by men and women have always been an afterthought."

The champagne is not yet dry on Tyler Wright’s historical Lexus Pipe Pro championship though that has not stopped the British Broadcasting Corporation from savaging surfboard shapers as wantonly sexist in a blistering takedown. Auntie B pulled no punches in wondering “Are surfboards designed for female bodies?” savaging surfing as “male-dominated” with “the majority of off-the-rack boards designed for men.”

Rachael Lee, 33, from Porthcawl shared that she had started surfing at 13 on her father’s board but it wasn’t until years later that she borrowed her friend’s “female board” and popped up much easier. “The industry has been monopolised by men and women have always been an afterthought,” she said.

Jess Blake, 33, from Swansea offered that she liked surfing but found the boards too heavy and big.

Gwenno Haf Hughes, 34, from Bridgend realized that her boyfriend’s shoulders were twice as broad as hers but never considered that they would need different sorts of surfboards. When she finally got around from trying a woman’s surfboard she went “so fast with so little effort.”

Her boyfriend, on the other hand, sank like a foolish stone.

Stephanie Smailes, 34, from Ogmore-by-Sea ordered a custom woman surfboard offered, “When we say a board is made for a woman we make assumptions about what a woman’s body is.”

She is the chair for the inclusive line ups committee for Surfing England which helps the organization with equality, diversity and inclusion. She added “there is no Welsh equivalent at the moment.”

Jacob Arnold, 26, shaper and a raging capitalist and declared, “If you’re not making stock that will suit girls you are definitely missing a trick.”

Dr Elisabeth Williams, senior lecturer of applied biomechanics at Swansea University and editorial board members of the Sports Engineering journal, stated, “The rules and [sports] equipment are set up around male bodies, they always have been. It still is a man’s world and sporting equipment design is just a symptom of that.”

Except for the aforementioned Jacob Arnold who is swimming in sterling.

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