Surf tour veterans Tyler Wright, Caroline Marks and Co warned, “There’s no perpetual paychecks in sports”

The sand’s running fast from these particular hourglasses.

Here we are with two events left to go before the cut. Omg the cut! The dread cut, it looms so large! Help, I am worried about the cut!

I’m actually not that worried, because I am here at home on my couch, not a Championship Tour surfer.

Phew! I am safe from the cut!

But not everyone on the women’s Championship Tour is safe. The cut is coming for them so soon.

I have arranged the women in my own very special ranking that might resemble reality, but probably doesn’t. Also, as usual, I have opinions. So many opinions. It’s good we have the internet so we can all have opinions together.

Here’s the first super not at all official BeachGrit women’s power rankings of the 2025 season. If I get crazy, there might be more. If the south swells start up soon, I might just go surfing. Don’t hate me.

15. Sally Fitzgibbons. Sal seems like a lovely person, but I’m not sure what we’re still doing here. Yes, she wants to compete forever, but it sure feels like a doomed project. Here she is, sitting at the bottom of the rankings. Sal’s been a proponent of expanding the women’s Tour, and she’s right.

But it’s hard not to see the self-interest in it.

There’s no perpetual paychecks in sports, or at least there shouldn’t be. If her surfing were evolving, I’d be more excited to see her on Tour. But I feel like it’s the same as it ever was. Clean, solid, not very interesting. Surprise me, Sal. Make me eat all these words. Nom nom nom, words, taste so good.

Wait, what? Did someone say cake?

14. Vahine Fierro. I love Vahine in big, bombing Teahupo’o. She looks so graceful floating through those massive barrels, a flower in the storm. It seems completely impossible that she could do it. And yet, she does. In normal every day surf, Vahine has a solid back hand, but it hasn’t been enough to win her heats this year. During the extremely long Olympic qualifying process, Vahine surfed a ton of heats in all sorts of conditions and the improvement was noticeable. But she still has some work to do. She’s stuck down here at the bottom of the rankings with two rights to go before the cut. That’s just not going to be a fun time. She’s a surfer I want to do well, but apparently, I don’t always get what I want. Here’s hoping she’s back for a wild card at Teahupo’o.

13. Luana Silva. A suprising run at Bells pushed Luana up the rankings, but she’s had a string of early round exits this season. Nerves seem to be a problem for Luana, because the talent is there. She looked super solid and smooth at Bells, so much so that I wondered if there’d been some sorta of alien body switching situation. Two back-to-back good performances on the Gold Coast and Margaret River are not out of the question, but damn, that’s a big ask. The mental pressure of the cut has cracked plenty of seasoned competitors, but maybe that’s what Luana needs. More pressure. Pour it on. Stranger things have happened.

12. Bettylou Sakura Johnson. Last year, Bettylou started her season with a bang by surprising us all in heaving Pipe. Her heat against Molly was pretty damn insane. She also got a bump in the rankings and in her confidence that helped carry her through the early part of the year. That didn’t happen this time around and Bettylou is languishing below the cutline after a series of third round exits. The talent is still there, of course, but she hasn’t been able to put the thing together as well this year. She’s good in rights and the point totals are close around the cut line, so she’s got a shot at it. I’d like to tie her arms to her sides, but that’s a minor quibble with the dread cut looming.

11. Lakey Peterson. Just above the cut line, Lakey is facing a return to the same nightmare scenario as last year when she missed the cut at Margaret River. Is she going to make it? Eight Ball says, ask again later. There’s been some signs of brilliance in Lakey’s surfing this season, but she’s had too many early round exits to keep her securely in the top ten. Lakey spent a lot of years during her career being scored against Steph and it took some of the edge off her surfing. Imagine being measured against Steph. Even Riss had trouble with it, and Lakey has never quite reached Carissa’s level. There’s no shame in that, but I wonder just how much reinvention is possible for Lakey at this point. The sand’s running fast from that particular hourglass.

10. Erin Brooks. It was never going to be possible for Erin to live up to the hype around her. Currently, she sits just above the cut line, tied on points with Lakey and with Luana Silva hot on her heels. The talent is plainly there. No one really wins a Tour event as a wildcard by accident. Too often, though, Erin looks to be surfing based on what her training tells her to do, rather than reacting in real time to what the wave has to offer. She ends up out of sync and missing the beat. The best heat surfers learn to combine the two — a consistency from repeated training and an ability to adapt to the ocean. Carissa is the master at this. Erin hasn’t cracked the code, just yet and in a strange irony, her dedication to training is actually holding her back. Loosen it up, girl.

9. Bella Kenworthy. There’s a tight battle over that last spot in the top ten to make the women’s cut. In her first season, Bella’s had three quarterfinal finishes, which is a solid start to her Tour career, and she was above the cut line until Bells where she took a ninth. She’s got an opportunity to turn that frown upside down in the next two events which are both the kind of rights where she shines. Bella’s got some solid power behind her turns and at El Sal, she was noticeably faster down the line than some of the other women in the draw. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised by Bella’s Tour performance, necessarily, but I wouldn’t have expected Erin to have this much competition for rookie of the year. Let’s see what happens on the Gold Coast.

8. Brisa Hennessey. In her first few years on Tour, Brisa had a light, flicky style and if she ever buried a rail, I’m not sure I saw it. To her immense credit, she’s developed her surfing since then and now has one of the stronger rail games on the women’s Tour. Let’s not get carried away, though. She’s still no Gabriela, but the difference from Brisa’s early years on Tour is refreshing. She’s also just so dang consistent. Right on schedule, Brisa’s started her climb up the rankings. I think she’ll make the cut, but she can’t take it for granted. The point differences between eighth and twelfth are looking tight. Bella, Luana, or Bettylou could overtake her with good performances in the next two events.

7. Tyler Wright. I should rank Tyler more highly, I guess, but there’s not much that’s fresh going on here. She’s going to keep stringing together a couple of turns with that ugly layback that I just can’t love no matter how hard I try. Real talk: I haven’t tried that hard. Maybe she’ll throw in the occasional grab-rail cutback for variety. Again, I don’t love it. To her credit, Tyler has improved significantly in the barrel. Fine, I’ll watch her in Tahiti, but do I have to do the Australian leg? There’s going to be so many laybacks. Make the laybacks stop and then we can talk.

6. Caroline Marks. Like Tyler, Caroline isn’t doing anything super new these days. When she first came on Tour, I wondered if she’d take that solid backhand as a starting point. From there, I figured she could add some airs and get good in the big left barrels. She’s a gifted surfer and it felt like the sky was the limit. That hasn’t really happened, though. Caroline took a year off for reasons she’s never really explained, and it seemed to slow her momentum. She’s a more polished version of the surfer she was when she first came on Tour. That’s pretty damn good and she’s got an Olympic medal and two world titles to show for it. She’s looked a little underpowered this year, but she’s within striking distance of the top five. Still it’s hard not to wonder what more she might have done — or still could do. Time’s passing, girl.

5. Sawyer Lindlbad. Yes, I am ranking Sawyer above Caroline and Tyler. Suck it, haters. In her first season, Sawyer finished just outside the top five and won the rookie of the year award. All that, despite some bone-headed rookie moves in her heats. This year, she’s looked stronger and more comfy with the whole being on the Championship Tour thing. To me, she looks like a faster, sharper version of Caroline. With three quarterfinal finishes and two round 3 exits, Sawyer looks safe from the cut, so far, but why not aim for that final five? Last year, Sawyer finished second at Margaret River and Brazil, but she has yet to win an event. That’s the missing piece for her. It’ll come.

4. Molly Picklum. This year’s small-wave tour doesn’t really suit Molly, who has gotten her best scores by hitting big sections super hard and by dropping into barreling lefts. When she first came on Tour, though, Molly had variety and even style in her surfing. Lately, she seems to have forgotten a lot of what got her here. At Bells, the judges did their best to remind her as she hucked up into the lip at soft winki and tried to rely on her closeout bangs to get her scores. Nah, said the judges. Do some turns, and make ‘em nice. I’m pretty sure Molly can do that just fine and now would be a good time to remember it. She’s sitting third overall with Tyler and Isabella right behind her.

3. Isabella Nichols. In her early years on Tour, Isabella always struck me as a kind of Steph lite, an easy on the eyes, stylish regular foot. Her light-footed surfing looked nice, but was short on forceful conviction. The past year, she’s added some ferocity to the whole thing and it looks good on her. She’s still stylish and fluid, but there’s more power behind her turns now. The next two events of the, um, treble — whatever the fuck that is — suit her and are her best opportunity to scoop some points and move up the rankings. She’s currently fourth, and has never made the top five final. This year’s her last chance! Get it girl!

2. Gabriela Bryan. The only woman to make the cut out of her rookie class, Gabriela now sits at the top of the rankings, tied with Caity on points. Do I know how they figured out the tie? No, I do not and please don’t ruin my brain by telling me. I’m sure it makes total sense, because everything about pro surfing does. Gabriela has slotted into the role of power surfer on the women’s Tour and it’s working out amazing for her. Her short-legged strength translates into tight, arcing turns and big spray. The judges love that spray. Looking ahead, she’s less of a threat in hollow lefts, but that’s a problem for the future. These next few Australian events will suit her just fine.

1. Caity Simmers. Despite dropping a spot in the rankings after Bells, Caity is still the woman to beat. Over the past two seasons, she’s developed into a complete surfer who can cause trouble at just about every Tour stop. Caity loses when she beats herself. That’s it. A prodigious talent, she’s still human and that means she makes mistakes. Her competitors will need to learn how to make the most of them. Don’t let the laid back, stoner vibe persona on land fool you, either. Caity loves competition and I doubt she’s going to stop competing any time soon. Chiller on the beach, killer in the water. She’s here to stay.