Millennials have largely commandeered the storylines after three events on the women’s WSL Championship Tour. In a year where the up-and-coming generation of women has received the bulk of the attention — even a red carpet rollout for their Hollywood film premiere — the 30-plus club made a statement with Steph Gilmore and Lakey Peterson winning the last two events. They’ve shown they’re still around and part of the title hunt.
First, Lakey Peterson took out the 18-year-old phenom Erin Brooks, former world champion Caroline Marks, Sawyer Lindblad, and Luana Silva en route to winning the Margaret River Pro. Pairing that win with two fifth-place finishes, and she’s sitting tied for second in the overall ranking.
Then, the eight-time champ Steph Gilmore, after taking two years off and floundering in the first two events of the season, took out a swath of youngsters at her home break of Snapper Rocks. She eliminated Brooks, Bettylou Sakura Johnson, world champ Caity Simmers, Nadia Erostarbe, and Silva, rising 16 spots in the rankings from dead-last to seventh.
Even Gilmore was surprised that she wrangled a win among this young crop of talented surfers.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I would be able to win an event this year,” Gilmore said on stage at the Snapper Rocks awards ceremony. “The level of women’s surfing has just excelled at an incredible rate. I watched every event from a distance the last few years, and I always had those thoughts like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can do it anymore.’”
“But if it was ever going to happen, it was here at Snapper Rocks,” she continued. “It really is such a joy to compete here. And I think when you’re in that space of having fun, things just kind of fall your way.”
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The solid performances of the old guard have kept many of the younger surfers at bay. Nadia Erostarbe is the only rookie who has found any sort of success. Tya Zebrowski, Francisca Veselko, Yolanda Hopkins, and Anat Lelior are all sitting at the bottom half of the rankings. Even Erin Brooks, with her unmatchable aerial arsenal, has yet to post a good result.
The previous three world champs — Caroline Marks, Caity Simmers, and Molly Picklum — will certainly be contending for titles when the season ends at Pipeline. But the early part of 2026 has served as a gentle reminder that another title for one of them is not a foregone conclusion.
Gilmore and Peterson are still in the mix. Carissa Moore, who’s earned two ninths and a fifth this year, is due for a breakthrough performance of her own. And don’t forget about Tyler Wright, who missed Margaret River due to injury.
The tour resumes with the debut of Raglan, New Zealand, May 15-25.
