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.
